The AI ​​assistant offered me any help I needed. All I wanted was a living, breathing human | Adrian Chiles

SSomething went wrong. The car charger didn’t work. What followed was a terrible, nerve-racking and life-shortening crash. It was because the WiFi the car was connected to needed to be changed. I find this stuff so boring that sometimes I just sink to the floor and fall into a deep sleep.

But that wasn’t an option since I had to drive miles to work and my car’s batteries were as dead as my soul. I had already been traveling for five hours listening to Antony Beevor’s history of the Second World War. Man’s inhumanity to man is so disappointing, even more disappointing than a broken electric vehicle charger on a wet and windy day. I decided to dig deep. The human spirit would prevail. If only I could find another person to help me.

I messaged the guy who installed it, but time was of the essence, so I tried the manufacturer’s website. It was all big and shiny, with talk of a green future, sustainability, solar energy and inverters. I was invited to visit support…