We want to instrumentalize daily life with real people and accept fantasies of "intimate" conversations with robotic personal assistants who have no real understanding of what we are saying to them in terms of what things mean to us.

CNN: We expect more from technology and less from each other

While there is no doubt of the growing demand for virtual assistants, it seems increasing numbers of people are keen to get out of the office and work from home.

BBC: Overworked? Try a virtual assistant

It was not clear whether Goodwin had told her assistants to apply similar scrutiny to No Ordinary Time, the 1994 bestseller about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, for which she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.

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No-one objects to extending the use of classroom assistants.

BBC: Spin on classroom assistants

"There should be no excuse from the trust boards, from the nurses and doctors and care assistants providing care directly or from the population in general, " she told Today presenter James Naughtie.

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In no way is my presentation of the above data meant to lessen the status and importance of secretaries and administrative assistants (nor is it intended to make a judgment about the appropriateness of income levels).

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