Sophie’s voice is lovely. Warm, direct, intelligent. She’s friendly but not obsequious. She just wants to be helpful.

She wasn’t working at the mechanic business a week ago, when I’d taken in my old four-wheel drive for a fix-up. But now, here she was, at the other end of the phone. And there it was, in her very first sentence.

“Hello, this is XYZ Mechanics, I’m Sophie, the AI employee.”

In the space of a week, the future had arrived.

“Hello, Sophie, nice to meet you, I’m Hugh.”

“Nice to meet you, too. How can I help today?”

I said she could help by telling me when I could collect my car. She checked the rego and quick as a flash declared: “Your car will be ready to be picked up tomorrow at 12 midday.”

I suppressed the impulse for a little mischief.

“How long have you been working at XYZ Mechanics, Sophie? Where were you working before? Do you have any brothers and sisters? What is the most bothersome part of dealing with the public?…