The recent problems with the TSB bank, saw many enraged customers unable to access their accounts. One of the repeated complaints from customers was that there was no one to speak to.
This is becoming an increasing occurance across society, as people are increasingly replaced by machines.
The supermarket checkout has been heading that way for many years, with the companies concerned, often deliberately cutting back human staffed checkouts, in order to force customers towards the automated tills.
These often seem to malfunction, requiring a human to then step in and sort out the problem However, short term inconvenience to the customer appears a price the supermarket is prepared to pay in order to cut staff.
The question is where is this all heading?
It is estimated that over the next 10 to 20 years 50% of jobs are set to disappear. This will have huge implications for society, yet few seem to be giving it much thought.
At the moment it is the usual, let the market decide - a recipe for chaos in many instances.
Less work can be good, if it provides more time for leisure, education and other things. It was a vista imagined in the 1970s, with shorter working weeks and early retirement. However, then it never materialised.
In the event, we got longer working weeks, with retirement pushed ever further into the distance.
What is for sure is that while there may be less work for people in the future, there must be greater equality - a fairer distribution of the total wealth.
if the present polarisation of wealth from the many to the few continues, dark and uncertain days lay ahead.
Moving forward, there need to be bold imaginative plans made for this brave new world of automation, not simply letting the market decide.
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