I think answering unknown numbers in real time is situational. I normally don't answer any of them; as you said, if it's important, they'll leave a message. But when I bought a refrigerator I knew delivery people would be calling, so I answered unknown calls until it was done.

The ability to view a transcript of the message in real-time is a great new feature of iOS 17. I use it all the time — and it's pretty much always junk.

Wait til AI voice spoofing is part of the scammers arsenal.