As predicted, compared to those who believed they were interacting with a human operator, participants who believed they were interacting with a computer reported lower fear of self-disclosure, lower impression management, displayed their sadness more intensely, and were rated by observers as more willing to disclose.

That’s the value of person-to-person teaching that’s irreplaceable in textbooks and MOOCs – the human ability to recognize a problem someone doesn’t even know they have.

In other words, the ‘success’ of technologies like self-checkout machines is in large part produced by the human effort necessary to maintain the technologies ​ Their broader point is that automation doesn’t eliminate human labor; it often leads to its disguising and devaluation ​ Customers have to bridge the gap between the norms of human customer service and the company’s imposition of inhuman staff shortfalls without completely losing their patience or simply taking what they couldn’t find a reasonable way to purchase. ​ That is, they rely on the kinds of consideration from users that the companies themselves don’t practice. ​ They have prioritized user growth, data collection, and advertising over providing a safe, reliable service to users. It’s no wonder that some users will adopt the same attitude and the same goals: try to spread unwanted messages as far as possible.