Was this tongue in cheek? If you _can_ use inference it was at least obvious enough to the compiler. Otherwise you're just saying "I use it when I feel like it."
auto x = func(); // no idea about func return type
auto x = new Widget(); // DRY
auto sum (auto a, auto b); // template function without boilerplate
Having said this, I usually only use type inference when the types are obvious from context.