100 percent agreed. Then again, I'm a hardline Butlerian Jihadist. "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." Hence, why I despise all those blasted Alexa things, and hell will freeze over before I talk to a computer. It all ends in "Open the pod bay doors please HAL" but everyone ignores the warnings of science fiction.

Whilst perhaps not as egregious as Alexa and other assorted voluntary AI spyware, self-service checkouts are, I agree, a pestilence for all the reasons you describe. I am not a sociable person and couldn't give an airborne fornication about interacting with shop assistants, but I have nothing but respect for them, and would far prefer to deal with a human being. Inevitably, one has to do so even if using a self-checkout, as there are so many annoying issues like weight variants. The self-service machine treats you like a bloody criminal when there isn't any damned unexpected item in the packing area, as robo-voice drones on accusingly, besmirching your reputation as a fine upstanding citizen in front of other customers.