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?
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.
