That would be a failure of imagination when it comes to everything secretaries actually do. Which is a problem with the idea that AI is coming for all our jobs anytime soon. It totally undersells everything humans do on the job.
"No, you don't get it, it's me specifically who has a job that's way too special to be automated away!"
Sometimes we don’t choose the cheaper automated product, and instead opt for the “human experience”. I don’t imagine this will change any time soon. Humans like being around humans.
If "humans like being around humans", why does human behavior say otherwise?
People have fewer and fewer relationships, and even fewer close or intimate relationships. "Third places" are in decline, demand-induced - social activity takes place "in person" less and less, and more and more of it moves "online".
If your idea of "human experience" is "close relationship in person" or "group activities offline", and not something like "a friend chat group with memes and games, most of them never met in person", "social media posting", "parasocial relationship with a streamer" or "public Minecraft and Roblox servers", then "human experience" is on decline by just about any metric available.
Those aren't new trends either. They predate things like companion/roleplay AI chatbots - which seem popular with Gen Z and Gen Alpha in particular.
How that new thing shakes out is still unclear, but modern AIs are probably the closest thing to a "human experience" one can get without involving a human at all. So there's even more room for the metrics to fall now - regardless of whether "hanging out in a streamer's chat" counts as "human experience" to you.
Humans liking being around other humans doesn't preclude failure there - but that wouldn't mean that the statement isn't true. And as I said, some real life activities involving other humans are at quite high levels these days (concerts, higher end restaurants or explorations).
It sure seems like quite an amount of people doesn't want those things enough to go through the hassle of actually forming and maintaining those relationships.
If you could just get yourself a genuine Close Physical Relationship in a box, same-day delivery, enjoyment guaranteed or your money back? I bet they would. But as is? With the time, the effort, the sheer uncertainty involved? A lot of people forgo it.
For every example you list, there's two more examples of "third places" fading away into nothingness because people just aren't using them anymore.
Failure and uncertainty are part of life, so I have no issue with those.
What would be "genuine" about the physical relationship in a box? A sentient, conscious being with autonomy and agency would bring uncertainty etc. right back no?
In a world where you have to pick, do you pick pursuing a close physical relationship, or opt for something far more shallow, but also much more certain and convenient? Or perhaps a deep relationship - with someone you share a lot of interests with, but don't happen to share a continent? Or something else entirely - like solitary entertainment?
In the perfect world of stated preferences, you don't have to trade those things off. In the real world, there's only this much time, money and effort you have available, and choices have to be made.
People with a lot of degress of freedom (wealth) seem to be doing ok with choosing actual physical relationships, marriages, etc. - why is that? (About 80+% of the richest 100 people are married, for example, and they tend to have quite a few children, too)?
Personally I would blame this on smartphones and/or apps, not the people. There's a lot of people who report finding these things addictive, and Meta's getting sued right now by people who have shown that Meta knew the users were upset about being addicted to the platform:
because economics and practical realities demand it.
most Gen Z don't drink because they can't afford it, not because they don't like bars.
a movie ticket w/ drinks and popcorn is now $55 for me and the wife. I'd love to see it in the theater w/ people but netflix is half that per month, unlimited viewing.
starbucks championed the 3rd place but is aggressively culling their own stores to chase profits
public transport isn't there in many places so if you don't have a car you can't go anywhere, whomp whomp
lots of people would go out more -- they just can't. so you do the best w/ what you have, and that's usually smartphone, streaming, and staying in
Plus a coffee shop is about the experience, not the price.
But most jobs that aren't service are not about the experience.
Lots of tasks that could be automated with current technology aren't, simply because there's a non-automatable task that requires a baseline labor force (e.g. widget maker gets jammed once in a while, need someone nearby to remove the jammed widget and restart the machine) which then becomes essentially free when used for ancillary tasks (e.g. sealing boxes full of widgets, which also draws attention to drops in widget output volume). And sometimes humans are simply the cheaper option.
No doubt many people will lose their jobs to AI, and others will have to accept wage cuts to compete with the falling cost of automation, but that doesn't necessarily mean the AI is doing the humans' job now, or that none of the original workforce stays.