Great episode. It's a comical but pointed commentary about not just our dependence upon technology, but also on the perils of automated systems, ALL of which collect and share personal data about you. Even women's vibrators collect personal data about them! (according to the script writers themselves).

Scully and Mulder didn't speak at all while they were in the restaurant, and only interacted with their electronic devices. They used only non verbal communication with each other while in the restaurant. They were the ONLY human beings in the restaurant, it being completely automated. This became a problem when Mulder's food arrived, a fish with a human like nose on it. It was very unappetizing and Mulder tried to return it. He went to the kitchen with his meal looking to return it to the cook or someone, but found only robotic food prep machines, one with electronic eyes. It stopped moving and 'watched' him until he gave up and left the kitchen. Was their silence in the restaurant a commentary on the degree to which people no longer talk to each other, but interact with digital devices instead? It seemed like it was. But I was more impressed with the frustration they both showed at finding no human beings available to help resolve the issues which arose.

How many times have you tried in vain to get a message across to an automated response unit on the telephone? Did you ever feel you were at the mercy of an automated system, with no human being available to help resolve the issue? Ramp that feeling up 100 fold and you get the idea.

Mulder paid for both meals, but he refused to give a tip to the robotic restaurant when he was electronically prompted for one. The restaurant seemed to take offense at this. Throughout the rest of the show he received text messages asking him to tip the restaurant, which he declined again and again, information which seemed to have been shared with other electronic systems. The card reader locked onto his credit card and would not let it go. The doors to the building locked them inside, necessitating that they break out. Scully had ordered a taxi ride to her home which was waiting for her outside. She was surprised to find that it was an electronic car with an automatic driving system owned by a company called "Whipz". To say the system had bugs would be an understatement. It failed to understand her verbal commands, or it simply failed to acknowledge those it did not prefer. The car sped at unsafe speeds through the town as she screamed for it to slow down, then to stop. She was prompted to give it a good review before being allowed to exit the vehicle. Mulder's trip planning ap took him back to the restaurant, whose electronic eyes watched him ominously as he consulted his paper map, going old school. Once he got home and called his credit card company he was put on hold and elected to get a call back. Then the drones arrived and invaded his privacy, filming him through the window and beaming it to his television set.
Scully struggled to get her alarm system working properly. Then a robotic delivery drone air dropped a package outside her door. It contained a robotic vacuum cleaner, which promptly discovered a "personal massage device" underneath her bed and pushed it out onto the floor. The device broke a vase and Scully boxed it back up to send it back. Mulder showed up to her house, having been chased from his by a flock of drones. They sped away seeking to get to the relative safety of their office, but were diverted along the way. They were continually harassed, at one point a 3 D printer made a magazine of bullets which began firing at them, and other bots began chasing them down. Finally they were presented with one final "opportunity" to tip the offending restaurant. They looked at each other and decided on giving it a modest tip.

Suddenly their digitial troubles ceased.

This episode makes some good points; all our electronic interactions create personal data about us, which is stored and shared, likely sold, to other systems. We are classified according to these data, and we are treated accordingly. The more automated our systems become, the less human interaction we have, the less we're able to affect the way we are perceived and treated.

It really makes you want to have analog or even less primitive systems working. Give me a good fireplace. They work just fine during a power outage.