In April, I posted about a truly dreadful experience I'd had with Eventbrite's AI customer support. While this was the very worst I've encountered with non-human support, mostly I find it's only good for something pretty straightforward that I could probably have figured out for myself in about the same time. So kinda/sorta served me right. Kinda/sorta.
Anyway, my belief is that while AI is coming, and in some instances is already here, there are plenty of places where it is most decidedly not ready for prime time.
Fast forward a year of living dangerously and:
Klarna Group Plc’s co-founder and CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, has admitted the fintech giant’s aggressive use of artificial intelligence in customer service has backfired. “As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality,” he said at Klarna’s Stockholm headquarters. (Source: LiveMint)In other words, you get what you don't pay for. So now Klarna is looking to replace AI with flesh-and-blood customer support reps. Of course, it still looks like they're intent on cheaping out, as they're trialing a "new model" in which people aren't actual employees, but Uber-like, log in when they have time and "provide service on demand."
“We also know there are tons of Klarna users that are very passionate about our company and would enjoy working for us,” Siemiatkowski said. He emphasised that from both a “brand perspective” and “company perspective,” it is critical to “always” give customers the option to speak to a human.Well, better late than never. At least for the time being, as the company is still plenty high on AI.
“I feel a bit like Elon Musk,” the Klarna CEO quipped, “always wanting to say it’s going to happen tomorrow, when it’s going to take a little bit longer. I think it’s very likely within 12 months.”
Question: who in their right mind these days think feeling "a bit like Elon Musk" is a good thing? Answer: the quipping CEO of a company that's bought the AI bullshit. (Not that AI won't prevail in a lot of sectors, for better or for worse replacing tons of humans. But I call BS because a) AI ain't there yet; and b) a wide-eyed, wholesale "just do it" embrace of AI without being thoughtful and planful about what AI can actually do, and what AI's actually going to mean, is NOT a good thing.
Meanwhile, Klarna is looking at nearly $100 M in Q1 losses, caused in part by the failure of many of their American "buy now/pay later" customers to repay their loans. Oh. (Source of this info: Futurism)
Looks to me like a double karma whammy: giving a big smooch to AI ain't paying off, and the kind of folks who need to pay off, $100 purchase, with four payments may not be particularly good credit risks. Go figure. (Maybe Klarna could use AI to figure out the worthiness of their customers.)
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