News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Basically no one is using AI agents for their DoorDash or... by marketgarden on Thursday November 05, 2026 @03:55AM (#50376844)
Long-time lurker here. I'm probably something of an anomaly at HN because I don't work in anything remotely related to tech - I'm actually a screenwriter. But I enjoy spending time here because the quality of the discourse reminds me of Reddit back in the day.

I consistently get the feeling that I must have a rather more humanist and enchanted view of the world compared to some of you. I see a lot of hyper-rationalist, data-first discussion of the practical issues connected to AI agents when it comes to ordering takeout, but it seems very clear to me that the main reason no-one wants to use AI for this is because a human being's relationship with food - and sourcing food - is really quite ancient and meaningful. In today's hyper-connected world ordering a burger has become almost comically disconnected from hunting for a wild boar, but they are still the same thing in spirit. And handing that over to an LLM equates to the loss of a significant aspect of the human experience.

I think this applies to a lot of use cases of AI that are doomed to fail - not least anything that seeks to replace a human being's creative potential. Why would anyone want to give that up? It's such an important part of existing.

Re:Basically no one is using AI agents for their DoorDash or... by usrnm on Thursday November 05, 2026 @04:50AM (#50377244)
I think that, as a screenwriter, you're even more disconnected from reality than most IT bros here. Reality is not TV, it's mundane, simple and boring. Sometimes people just want to eat something and be done with it as fast as possible.
Re:Basically no one is using AI agents for their DoorDash or... by berkanunal on Thursday November 05, 2026 @07:39AM (#50378396)
It's really funny you think a screenwriter is disconnected from reality because they write (maybe) fiction for TV. Do you also think a historian is disconnected from the present day news? A translator doesn't have their own thoughts because of their job?
Re:Basically no one is using AI agents for their DoorDash or... by usrnm on Thursday November 05, 2026 @08:00AM (#50378576)
And you think that the thing that you spend most of your waking hours on and often associate yourself with does not affect the rest of your life?
Re:Basically no one is using AI agents for their DoorDash or... by dooglius on Thursday November 05, 2026 @09:40AM (#50379658)
Someone who feels that way is probably not going to order doordash anyway and won't be in the denominator of their metrics