What is with this new rash of computer-generated and pre-recorded messages trying to sell me stuff lately?

I thought somewhere along the way there was a law passed that made it illegal for marketing companies to solicit using a computer as the initial interaction with a prospect.  I thought the initial call had to include a live voice engaging the prospect somehow (so that you could have the opportunity to interrupt and specifically request to be opted out of future calls).  Seems that law either changed or is being patently ignored.  I get about a dozen of these calls every week!

OK, here's my rule:  if you're a machine and you call me on the phone, I'm hanging up as soon as I figure out you never had (and never WILL have) a pulse.  Oh wait, you say, but what if the call offers me a great deal?  SO WHAT!  I'm hanging up!  But what if I won something?  SO WHAT!  I got along without it up until now-- and I'll probably survive without it tomorrow!  But what if they really want to know your opinion!  TRUST ME:  if you have no pulse and you dial me, or if you're responsible for making some inanimate object do so, you DON'T want to know what I'm thinking at that moment!

When did it become acceptable to let a machine do our client interactions?  If we can't speak to real people and assess their interest, or lack of interest, how will we know the right way and the right time to follow up for a future opportunity?  In the interest of saving money, these calls are automatically moving me from the "might have once been possible" pile of prospects to the "I wouldn't trade with you under ANY circumstance" pile.

Am I just too old for today's technology or have we, as a culture, lost something in the translation?

Chris Hendricks