Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. So, it turns out that some people are using personal AI assistants to score reservations at super trendy restaurants. I mean, we’re talking about places like 4 Charles Prime Rib in New York, where tables are snatched up in seconds. J.C. Bahr-de Stefano, a venture capitalist, used an AI assistant called Instinct to try and get a table at this hotspot, and let’s just say it didn’t exactly go smoothly. The AI assistant basically bombarded the reservation platform Resy with requests, trying to snag a table, and Stefano ended up getting banned from the platform. Bless their hearts, I guess you could say they were just trying to help.
I mean, can you blame them? Getting a table at one of these fancy restaurants can be like trying to win the lottery. But using an AI assistant to game the system? That’s just taking it to a whole new level. And it’s not just Stefano – other people are using these AI assistants to find apartments, cancel subscriptions, and even manage their calendars. It’s like they’re trying to outsource their entire lives to a robot.
Now, I’m not saying it’s all bad. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have a personal assistant to take care of all the mundane tasks? But when it comes to something like getting a table at a restaurant, shouldn’t that be a human interaction? I don’t know, maybe I’m just old-fashioned. Roni Mazumdar, the co-owner of several award-winning restaurants, seems to agree with me. He says that using AI assistants to get reservations is “dehumanizing the last standing experience that is still totally human.”
And it’s not just the restaurants that are affected. The reservation platforms themselves are having to deal with these AI assistants, trying to figure out how to stop them from gaming the system. Resy, for example, has a policy against using unapproved third-party bots or agents to access their platform. But it’s hard to keep up with these AI assistants – they’re like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.
Some people are even suggesting that we’ll eventually have an internet where one person’s AI assistant interacts with a restaurant’s bot to hash out reservations. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Stefano, the venture capitalist, agrees – he says it’s “dystopian capitalism” to have AI assistants bidding on reservations like they’re at an auction.
In the end, I think we can all agree that getting a table at a restaurant should be a human experience, not some automated process. As Mazumdar says, “It takes the magic out of restaurants quite quickly.” So, let’s all just take a deep breath and remember that sometimes, it’s okay to pick up the phone and talk to a real person. And if you can’t get a table at that trendy restaurant, well, there are plenty of other great places to eat. As I always say, you can’t make this stuff up – but I guess that’s what makes life interesting, right?
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
⚖️ ENTER THE LEGALIZER
Think the government has no idea what it's doing? Put your case before the Federal Case Terminal and find out.
