And yet, many interviewers' experience shows that there are people that would pass a discussion-only interview and fail at basic coding tasks. There's plenty such people holding down jobs for a while, so even that may not be a sure indicator of skill.
> The intentional ambiguity is deceitful. The expected dependence and expected deference is so patronizing and manipulative.
I'm ~1.5years into my first job as a Backend Dev so I can't speak much about the industry, but based on my experience and what I hear from others, asking questions and clarifying unclear requirements is part of the job description. I almost never get my tasks in a precisely defined way and a lot of my job is gathering information and asking the right questions to build the right thing, often making my own choices and judgement calls. I assume that these skills are what GP comment is trying to test.
> They don't really care, nor should they, about your product, or your customers.
You can hardly blame a company for preferring someone who does. Or at least, pretends to.