Big tech products are mostly useless
<i>Now, when was the last time you came to book a haircut or restaurant table and concluded that the task was so onerous that you would ideally delegate it to a machine? And even if you can easily think of a scenario, would there not be something ethically questionable about doing so, if the person at the other end had no idea who or what they were talking to?</i><p>I hate talking on the phone. If I can&#x27;t fill out a web form (login-free please) or send an email to complete some task like that, I&#x27;d love to have a robot do it for me. I don&#x27;t see anything unethical about this as long as the robot performs the task reasonably well, doesn&#x27;t waste the receptionist&#x27;s time, etc....<p>The classic hacker ethic says it&#x27;s bad for humans to be required to waste time on something a machine could do, and Google has just expanded the list of things machines can do. Of course, under that framework, it would be preferable to automate the receptionist taking the call as well.<p>I&#x27;m eager for this technology to become more general-purpose. For months, I&#x27;ve had a case open with an airline over an item that went missing from my checked bag. The <i>only</i> way to get updates is to call them on the phone. It first goes to an IVR, then a call center in India where the call is screened by a person, and only then to the actual department that can give me useful information. There is no direct line (I asked). The process is obviously designed to frustrate users so they give up. The hassle is arguably not worth the $90 they owe me, but I don&#x27;t want to let them get away with it. I really wish I could have a robot talk to them.