Bot Whisperer: A worthy title

I hate corporate job titles. I’ve been many variations of “software engineer” in my long career… junior engineer, senior engineer, principal engineer, security engineer, test automation engineer, engineering manager… were they really descriptive of what I actually did? With a few exceptions, no.

In fact, I haven’t felt much like an “engineer” at all. While it cannot be denied that there are elements of testing, root cause diagnosis, planning, specification, and design that are shared by traditional and software “engineering” disciplines… I think the rise, agile fall, and AI re-emergence of the traditional “waterfall” engineering design process illustrates those monikered as “software engineers” have deviated from otherwise standard “engineering” practices. We “engineers” polished our soft skills and learned to absorb other disciplines required to interface with our corporate overlords as our “ingenuity” (same latin root word) faded… all the while keeping the title we drag around like an outdated, semantically useless ball and chain that people use to decide how much compensation we deserve.

On the other hand, I really delight in being handed a business card (remember those?) with a usually-cheeky and humorous… but more importantly, much more honest summation of the role someone plays at their company. “CEO of GSD” comes to mind (chief of getting 💩 done 😃). I don’t think the rest of my career will see a title beginning with a “C” acronym,“President”, “VP” or “Director”. This article is a meditation on what I would actually prefer a future title of mine to be… now that I spend pretty much all of my days Pairing with Bots. What would an honest title be for what I’m aspiring to become? (Hint: it’s not Prompt Engineer.)

I hope you’ve seen the movie “The Horse Whisperer”… its title is what I think of when I hear “whisperer”, but AI informs me it actually and ancient expression that goes way back:

The word “whisperer” itself, meaning “someone who whispers,” dates back to the mid-1500s. The term “horse whisperer” existed for centuries before the film, used to describe people with an uncanny ability to calm and train horses. These horse trainers often worked quietly and used gentle methods, making it seem as though they were “whispering” secrets to the animals. The term was often associated with a certain mystique or even magic, as these methods were often kept secret.

But this paints perhaps too rosy a picture of what a whisperer can accomplish with a hard-won but secretive skill. When I asked the AI to expound upon the very earliest meanings of the word, I got this:

In the 16th century, and even earlier, the term was not used to describe someone with a special, gentle affinity for an animal. Instead, a “whisperer” was a person who engaged in secretive and malicious talk. The meaning was almost always negative, and synonymous with:

Tale-bearer: Someone who secretly spreads rumors.

Gossip: A person who engages in idle, often harmful, chatter.

Slanderer: Someone who makes false and damaging statements about another.

Backbiter: A person who speaks maliciously of another behind their back.

The term’s original use was rooted in the idea of deceit and subversion. It was not about a person’s skill, but rather their immoral or untrustworthy character, reflecting the biblical and moral condemnations of gossip and secret slander.

Therefore, the characterization of Gríma Wormtongue as a “whisperer” is perfectly aligned with the historical meaning of the word from the 1500s. He used his private, seemingly harmless words to corrupt the mind of King Théoden and undermine the kingdom of Rohan from within, exactly as a “whisperer” was defined in that period.

In addition to a pretty unappealing physical visage, this character evokes the undermining of all that is “true”, “good” or (literally) “noble”. Modern AI activities like “jailbreaking” and “red-teaming” may be not as flattering a use of the term, but appropriate, and… let’s face it, pretty honest.

In my first article in this publication, I explained what I think has drawn me to the activity I’m calling Pairing with Bots. Part of the explanation was the involuntary psychology training I’ve undertaken because of my son with autism. He is my most important “whispering” job. This computer thing is really just a side-gig that pays the bills. Being an autism whisperer is the hardest job I’ve ever had to do… it involves keen observation, root cause analysis, an ability to envision and predict future behavior, in order to oh-so-gently nudge and redirect things and create the best possible environment and conditions conducive to success for the whispered to… and by extension… the whisperer as well. Being a benevolent whisperer is the opposite of adversarial threats or manipulation, it embodies a win-win philosophy. It is horse whispering, where man and beast work together for survival, transportation, and companionship… not the “undermine the king” version.

When I was a young person in high school, one of my best friends was very different from his peers. While the rest of us took odd jobs at the movie theater or fast-food restaurant. Somehow, he got a job caring for horses in one of the few suburban ranches left near our neighborhood. And he was good at it, really good. He had already been doing this for a few years when I would go with him for feedings or brushings or other unmentionable duties. I was so impressed at how he had mastered what seemed like hundreds of micro-techniques that he employed effortlessly to gently control these huge, intelligent, and impressive animals. He wasn’t always successful, but he had techniques on top of techniques to turn dangerous or undesirable events back into a smooth collaboration between man and beast. He was absolutely a young horse whisperer, and it was impressive.

During this time, I also had a pet cat named Duchess. Cats are not horses, but I’d like to think (consciously or not) I absorbed some of his general animal behavior lessons and applied them to my relationship with the cat. This whispering thing is really about paying attention, observing, hypothesizing, trying things and remembering the outcomes… that’s all. Your basic behavioral scientific method stuff. I think everyone would agree… cats, autistic folks and AI are all enigmatic puzzles whose behavior is challenging to predict.

Fast forward to year ago, an injured cat appeared at my doorstep. It belonged to my neighbors who were on vacation of the time, so I tended to the wound and took care of it. Afterwards, she kept hanging around our house. With the consent of the neighbors, I continued to feed her and give her attention. From what I’m told, the cat was a former farm cat, and had a difficult personality, refusing to stay in my neighbor’s house or be affectionate with their children. These days, she comes in and wants to sit on my lap and receive some neck scratches from me every day. The neighbors were incredulous until my wife texted them a picture of this daily activity. I guess that makes me a “cat whisperer” too.

Aren’t parents “child whisperers’? Aren’t marketers kinda “consumer whisperers” aren’t psychologists “(human) brain whisperers”?

Why can’t I be a “Bot Whisperer”?

My advice: Become a whisperer as you pair, be they human or bot. Also, don’t give the AI “claws”.

Bot Whisperer: A worthy title was originally published in Pairing with Bots on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.