Are you telling the device to do something, or is the device telling you? We mostly tell our devices what to do.
I’d point out that a lot of powerful people have advisors whose job is, more or less, telling powerful people what to do.It seems less about telling and more about being able to actually compel via some form of force—when the cash register gains the ability to auto-issue disciplinary actions, then I think it’s “telling us what to do”. When it’s simply reporting information, it’s still subordinate, just not necessarily to you personally.
I’d point out that a lot of powerful people have advisors whose job is, more or less, telling powerful people what to do.It seems less about telling and more about being able to actually compel via some form of force—when the cash register gains the ability to auto-issue disciplinary actions, then I think it’s “telling us what to do”. When it’s simply reporting information, it’s still subordinate, just not necessarily to you personally.