I would never turn my lights on while trying to use the restroom at night. I explicitly don't want to turn them on because it wakes me up fully. As for your A/C suggestion, that's what thermostats are for. Those have been automated for years now.
I agree with the poster you're responding to. The only true automation that hasn't been done in the home are those that are unimportant. I certainly don't need Alexa to open my garage door, regulate the temperature of my house, and so forth. If I really really want to be able to turn lights on and off without walking over to the light switch, I've had options for that for over 20 years now.
Between 9pm and 9am, when I press my bathroom light button, it turns on at 10%. Not something I thought I needed, but now its nice having a light switch that knows what time it is.
For the most part, having lights you can only talk to is kind of annoying. Having lights only on a dumb switch gets kind of annoying. Having smart lights on a dumb switch is kind of annoying. But having smart switches or smart lights with coordinated smart switches is great. Consistency and simplicity is key. You can get the best of both worlds. Being able to turn of 3, 5, 10 switches at once. Being able to change brightness with your voice is something I use way more often than turning the lights on or off with my voice. Turning off the closet or bathroom light once already laying in bed. Alexa and Google exist to let you mix and match brands. You can have 6 brands of lights, best in breed for each purpose or cost point (cheaper lights is lesser rooms) and nobody besides the person maintaining the system needs to even know.
The software and wifi connecting has sort of been trash, but the WeMo Smart Dimmer and WeMo Three Way are GREAT pieces of hardware as far as being a LIGHT SWITCH is concerned. It's the apple of switch design. A single button for on or off. Slide your finger up the track for brightness. Long press to control other switches on the network (glitchier.)
I agree with the poster you're responding to. The only true automation that hasn't been done in the home are those that are unimportant. I certainly don't need Alexa to open my garage door, regulate the temperature of my house, and so forth. If I really really want to be able to turn lights on and off without walking over to the light switch, I've had options for that for over 20 years now.