Clippy's Inbox Broadcast — Episode 27: Automation Creates More Work

Five fabricated emails arrive from a workplace where every efficiency tool needs a human cleanup crew. Smart Reply volunteers your Saturday; an expense bot argues with noon; the focus-time team schedules over focus time; passwordless security requests a spreadsheet of passwords; and an automated workflow pauses until you review 184 steps by hand.

Clippy answers each one with the cheerful confidence of a late-1990s Office Assistant and the survival instincts of a 2026 knowledge worker. The visual reference is Microsoft's paperclip Office Assistant, often called Clippit or Clippy. 1