Canada’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered Air Canada to pay a British Columbia man because their stupid chatbot gave him inaccurate information.
It turns out that relying on computers to do the job of a human — particularly customer service — isn’t a good idea, surprising absolutely nobody but the clowns at Air Canada (and every other company that uses this type of artificially intelligent technology). This whole situation started when a man named Jake Moffat used the company’s chatbot to book flights to Toronto for his grandmother’s funeral, according to CTV.
He asked the chatbot about the company’s bereavement rates, which are reduced flight prices for immediate family members of someone who recently died. The chatbot told him the fares could be claimed by filling out a refund application within 90 days of his ticket being issued, which Moffat did. Turns out, you can’t actually do that. And when Moffat sent Air Canada screenshots of his conversation with the chatbot, they basically told him to jog on.
Let this be a lesson to you: always take screenshots.
Everyone Joins Panic Over AI And The Apocalypse Months After We Warned You | @DailyCaller
Imagine thinking you’re an expert on something and getting to a conclusion almost a year after this amateur figured it out… https://t.co/Ipy0X9ReAD
— KAY SMYTHE (@KaySmythe) May 31, 2023
“I find Air Canada did not take reasonable care to ensure its chatbot was accurate,” tribunal member Christopher C. Rivers wrote after Moffat brought the small claim to their attention. “Negligent misrepresentation can arise when a seller does not exercise reasonable care to ensure its representations are accurate and not misleading.” (RELATED: China Just Showed Off A Ton Of Advanced Robots, And Yeah, We’re All Screwed)
Moffat ended up with about $500 in damages, according to the tribunal’s decision, which was posted online on Wednesday. So at least he gets a happy ending (though you have to wonder if he feels that way, given all the time and energy it probably took to get that $500).
With more and more companies leaning on artificial intelligence (AI) to do the absolute basics to support their customers, y’all should prepare for more crap like this. Both companies and real people are going to have their lives ruined by AI, and hardly anyone gives a damn. This is exactly why our species never should have left the cave.