We are already in AI hell

Even before ChatGPT, there were advanced companies using ChatBots to eliminate expensive human contact. They would gradually withdraw publishing their telephone number, and try to steer 99% of customer inquiries into the chatbots. I hate chatbots.

The Chatbots are very polite but ultimately frustrating, because they are never empowered to offer any money back, nor do they ever fix anything. Those are two of the biggest reasons why I want to talk to a company in the first place. A polite idiot is still an idiot.

Now, with the addition of large language model AI technology like ChatGPT, companies are becoming incredibly bold about cutting off customer contact. For example, we have been using Twilio for SMS messaging, and one of their robotized processes is not working for us, and I found that they had the audacity to require a $1500/month support subscription for permission to call them on the phone. Even the mighty Microsoft only charged $200 per phone call; $1500 to just reach a human on the phone seems a bit steep.

Other companies will unfortunately follow Twilio's lead, and make it nearly impossible to reach a human being. I can see why they want to do it; it allows a company of 5000 people to have a market cap of 10 billion; that is 2 million market cap per employee; a very enviable position. However, it makes them maddening to deal with, and these "overleveraged" companies tend to build intense hate among their customers. Comcast, AT&T, and other telecom firms are in that special category of firms that are infamous for how many customers hate dealing with them.

I think it unwise for firms to eliminate human contact to this extent. There should always be an emergency channel that handles exceptions so that problems can get fixed. Otherwise you build intense anger among your customers.

I can remember seeing a VW van that had an essay posted on its side, detailing how rotten VW was at handling a design defect in the car; the typical big company denying they made a mistake and screwing the customer over some small thing. That owner for 20 years told thousands of people how mad they were at VW via their mobile billboard.

That kind of negative advertising is fertile ground for the competition. The term "going Postal" comes to mind, and I am afraid that the over-automation and inability to reach a human is going to have very negative consequences for mental health going forward, as companies withdraw human contact.

At our firm we spend so much money on having competent customer service people who know how our system works, so they can fix the problem; and if it is beyond their skill, they can easily escalate to a higher skilled person to get the problem solved. We work as a team, and we do a great job at resolving things quickly. The customer service quality never seems to show up in the comparison charts; people advertise on price and features, but customer service does matter.