UX Gaps

Automation didn't start as a shortcut. It started as honesty.  An out of office message meant something. You'd get one you'd understand: the person is literally not here. You'd receive a response in a day or two from an actual human who'd been waiting for your message. A contact form on a website? Same deal. People know businesses closed. Nobody worked 24/7. You filled out the form and knew that either that business day or the next, a real person would call you back.  That was automation with a purpose. Automation born from necessity and professional courtesy. Then somewhere along the lines, something shifted. Automation stopped being about what the customers needed and started being about what was convenient for the business. Business owners didn't want their teams tied up answering the same questions over and over. Social media accounts added bots that responded when you typed a keywork. Chatbots started appearing on website, then in your DMs, then everywhere....

 You've been trying to start your mornings outside lately. With the weather finally improving, a short run before sitting down at a screen feels like an easy way to ease into the day. A small buffer before work starts. During one of those runs, you put on a tech podcast a friend had recommended. The conversation moves through the usual mix of tools and product updates until the topic of vibe coding comes up. The hosts give a quick explanation for listeners who might not be familiar. Building software through prompts and AI tools instead of traditional development. One of the co-hosts laughs and says they're not technical, but they used it over the weekend to build a website for their daughter's graduation. A few laughs follow, and then the conversation moves on. But you don't really move on from it. Not because it feels important in the moment. Because it feels casual. Like it didn't need much attention at all. You finish your run, and the day starts. La...