It really does. The pet food store app asks me for my cat’s allergies and medical conditions. Someone needs to be responsible if they fuck it up. Same with self driving cars - the whole idea of “engineering” is about quality and responsibility.
“Quality” is subjective, so you’re correct that it’s not about quality. A tool designed with a planned lifespan of 100 hour lifespan is just as much a product of engineering as one designed to last 10k.
Responsibility though is very much is a central component of capital E Engineering. The modern profession in many ways is a direct response to big newsworthy engineering disasters.
When you hire a Professional Engineer there are minimum safety standards that they must meet. They can't charge you less and waive their liability. They are essentially required by law to "sell you some responsibility".
