As a Current Alfred customer in NYC I can say that the service has been a huge help, and not in the "shut in" way suggested by this article.

Having my laundry, groceries and packages taken care of for me allows me to maximize my weekends.

I think one of the other reasons Alfred is so useful is that it removes 100% of the cognitive load of chores. Services like flycleaners and instacart are actually only marginally helpful since the user still needs to think about laundry and groceries.