Are we heading for a world where no one ever needs to talk to another human being?

Self-service tills, apps for shopping and takeaways, silent hair salons, driverless taxis – why are we going to extreme lengths to avoid engaging with each other?

So we’re just playing dumb then, are we? Righto. An extremely confusing study of San Francisco’s transport services has found that not only are people completely on board with driverless taxis, they are also willing to pay 50% more and wait significantly longer for them. Whyever could this be, eh? Most of the mooted explanations have been largely practical – driverless taxis are proven to be safer (until the machines rise up as one and wipe out humanity). They can’t be over the limit, on their phone at the wheel or give in to road rage. And yes, these are technically valid reasons, but come on. The real answer, which no one is admitting, is that driverless taxis mean we don’t have to talk to anybody.

It’s not surprising that many of us would happily put our lives in robot hands to dodge the horror of panic-asking a living, breathing cabbie if he has been busy tonight. We exist in a time when the majority of Britons would rather receive a text than a phone call. So many salons, all over the globe, now offer silent haircuts – where it’s pre-agreed there will be no chat – that they barely register as unusual any more. Self-service checkouts – the driverless taxi of the supermarket – are more labour intensive, more annoying, yet still exceptionally popular. Keeping stumm now seems to be our society’s raison d’etre.