Went to get some laundry services and called the number. I was leery as I am in Toronto area and number was Nova Scotia.
A male sounding person answered and I started posing questions about laundry services they offered. This guy was the politest person I had heard in over a decade. Concise but vague. I thought it was VOIP delay as there was a 3-5 second pause for him to reply but realized that it was too consistent. It was a fucking AI attendant talking at me. I said stick your AI, I will not be using your services and hung up.
Grrrrr me want human.
Totally. But that’s not what I’m saying. Just to recap.
Buddy said AI/automation/clankas/gonks save money so if we want humans to provide us services we need to be willing to pay more. I posited that money being a barrier to human interaction is probably not a good endgame.
When I had my first ever surgery, I got wheeled into an operating room full of strangers operating who all introduce themselves and participated in making me feel safe and calm. If it weren’t for them, I’d have 100% freaked the fuck out.
Now I’m okay with robot surgeons and dentist doing what they’re programmed to do… but I don’t fucking trust them. I would only accept that kind of treatment if there a human in control of that situation.
That’s where my mind goes when I imagine a world where human provided service is paywalled.