46- The Agents of Digression

Nov 10

Living Well with Technology, episode 46 of the Human Pulse Podcast.

Between automated phone trees that lead in circles and tech support chatbots that fail to understand nuance, trying to get help with technology can be an exercise in pure frustration. But as tech support increasingly shifts from human representatives to bots—and as AI agents promise to act on our behalf—are we really heading toward a more seamless future, or just deeper into an uncanny valley?

From the friction of delegating tasks like customer support and inbox triage to the looming privacy trade-offs of granting agents access to our personal email, calendars, and credit cards, convenience comes at a steep price.

Meanwhile, the tech industry continues to herald autonomous AI agents as the next massive technological shift. Yet real-world adoption numbers tell a very different story: from a few hundred food delivery orders to a staggering total of four Uber rides booked by agents in a whole quarter.

Are autonomous AI agents genuinely the future of everyday computing, or are we caught in an echo chamber of venture-backed hype waiting for the bubble to burst.

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Chapters

00:00 The Four Rides
00:33 Are Bots More or Less Helpful Than Humans?
03:25 Tech Support Nightmares: Bots vs. Humans
08:35 Voice Clones, Fast Listening, and Overcast
13:32 Meta's Muse and the Rise of AI Agents
17:40 The Privacy Dilemma: Inboxes, Cards, and Always-Listening Tech
23:22 The Adoption Reality Check: 4 Rides and a Few Hundred Burgers
28:02 An Echo Chamber Bubble?
28:30 Conclusion
29:29 Outtakes

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Recording Date: October, 18th, 2026

Hosts: Anne Trager – Human Potential & Executive Performance Coach & Fabrice Neuman – Tech Consultant for Small Businesses

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Connect with us

Anne Trager
Connect with Anne on LinkedIn
Connect with Anne on Bluesky
Find out more about the Potentializer Academy

Fabrice Neuman
Connect with Fabrice on LinkedIn
Connect with Fabrice on Bluesky
Find out more about Pro-fusion Conseils

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Resources & Links

Meta Muse: 7 Mind Blowing Use Cases (Paul J Lipsky, YouTube)

Big Tech lost big in the 2026 election (The Vergecast, Nov. 6th 2026)