The Week contest - Robots

Welcome to "What Next?", The Week's contest about current events.

Click here for the results of the previous contest: The new bacon

Last week's question: Google is working on a self-driving car, and the automakers hope to follow suit — out of recognition that, overall, humans are pretty bad at driving. What is the next complicated task that robots should take out of our hands to save us from ourselves?

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Results:

THE WINNER: Going to the gym where I bought a membership

John Malatesta, New York City

SECOND PLACE: Untangling Christmas lights

Ginny Schaller, Houghton, Mich.

THIRD PLACE: Legislating

Jim Rauff, Decatur, Ill.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Navigating customer service call menu options

Jeffrey Contompasis, Ashburn, Va.

Filling out our taxes

Carl Schack Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio

Selecting our spouse (to lower the divorce rate)

William W. Lowe, Red Lion, Pa.

Raising children

Marsha Einhorn, New York City

Putting on our makeup while we drive

Karen Mikula, Mokena, Ill.

Dating

Greig Fields, Katonah, N.Y.

Speaking on the phone

John Crouse, Bethel, Conn.

Voting

Paul Binder, Bellevue, Wash.

Assembling the tent on a camping trip

Alan Parven, Commerce Township, Mich.

Operating firearms

Nicholas Jozefczyk, Macomb, Mich.

Finding gluten-free, low-carb, low-acid, organic lunches

Alex Goldklang, Astoria, N.Y.

Timely taking out of the garbage

Dick LaVine, New York City

Texting, while doing anything else

Brett Howard, Washington, D.C.

Programming the VCR

Ken Radziwanowski, East Windsor, N.J.

Telling you if that dress really does make you look fat

Krista Zaruba, Lauderdale, Minn.

Putting the toilet seat down

Ian Schlentner, Tempe, Ariz.

Saying "please" and "thank you"

Joanne Sullivan, Maspeth, N.Y.

Interpreting the Constitution

Richard Schiff, Oakland, Md.

Visiting the in-laws

Marcia Allen, Palo Alto, Calif.

Selecting Valentine’s Day gifts

Greg Hinson, Scranton, Pa.

Map-folding

Kate Keesee, Suffolk, Va.

Screwing in a light bulb

Mark McGann, Austin

Enacting gun control legislation

Amy Bosch, Seattle

Being married

Dave Stonesifer, Mohnton, Pa.

Teaching teenage boys table manners

Naomi Brody, West Hempstead, N.Y.