The death of ‘hello’: how gen Z – and scammers – put paid to the greeting
Summary
The traditional phone greeting "hello" is being used less, especially by younger people who prefer informal or no greetings when answering calls. This change is also linked to new phone technology and a rise in AI scams that copy voices from greetings to trick people.Key Facts
- The word "hello" appeared in writing about 200 years ago, evolving from older attention-getting words.
- Edison chose "hello" as the telephone greeting because phones made time-based greetings like "good morning" less useful.
- Many young people now answer calls with informal phrases or no greeting at all.
- A survey showed 40% of people aged 18-24 think it is okay to answer the phone without saying anything first.
- Conversations today often continue across text and calls, so formal greetings are seen as less necessary.
- AI scammers can copy your voice greeting to impersonate you and ask your friends or family for money.
- Experts advise not saying "hello" first to unknown callers to avoid being tricked by AI voice scams.
- The classic phone greeting "hello" may become outdated because of these social and technological changes.
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