Company claimed its chatbot ‘was responsible for its own actions’ when giving wrong information about bereavement fare
Canada’s largest airline has been ordered to pay compensation after its chatbot gave a customer inaccurate information, misleading him into buying a full-price ticket.
Air Canada came under further criticism for later attempting to distance itself from the error by claiming that the bot was “responsible for its own actions”.
Amid a broader push by companies to automate services, the case – the first of its kind in Canada – raises questions about the level of oversight companies have over the chat tools.
“we’re not responsible for the actions of our employees, even when we literally programmed them”
What a fucking joke, it’s like they’re saying the quiet part out loud
It sounds like they are leaning on the chatbot being recognized as a sentient being. That’s a pretty long shot.
In that case the chat bot is an employee and must receive a wage or this is considered slavery.
Next Gen enshitification
Well it’s true, to a certain extent.
If an employee (or a chatbot, for that matter), promised an egregious sum for no reason, I don’t think the company should be liable either.
Imagine getting hired to do support, having a friend open a chat and you promising to give him a milion dollars. Makes no sense.
But getting mislead about ticket pricing and them then refusing to refund the fare at least partially (the part that they promised would not be charged) is absolutely something they should be liable for.
And lawyer fees plus some pocket money for wasting peoples’ time, if getting a refund entails more than an email or two.
Yes, it was reasonable to believe was the point. I think what’s also interesting is the bot referred them to the correct information, which was part of the defence. However, the ruling said that both were provided by the company, the customer had no reason to believe the website gave more accurate information in one place compared to another.
This chatbot no longer works for the airline according to its LinkedIn profile.
“separate legal entity”
That the airline completely controls and has since updated the chatbot’s programming.
And not even any punitive damages. You know they’ve absolutely screwed over others with this.
Good. Let’s call it bug testing as we see what sort of deals various chatbots will agree too!
Air Canada sucks. I avoid them as much as possible.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Canada’s largest airline has been ordered to pay compensation after its chatbot gave a customer inaccurate information, misleading him into buying a full-price ticket.
In 2022, Jake Moffatt contacted Air Canada to determine which documents were needed to qualify for a bereavement fare, and if refunds could be granted retroactively.
According to Moffat’s screenshot of a conversation with the chatbot, the British Columbia resident was told he could apply for the refund “within 90 days of the date your ticket was issued” by completing an online form.
Moffatt then sued for the fare difference, prompting Air Canada to issue what the tribunal member Christopher Rivers called a “remarkable submission” in its defense.
Air Canada argued that despite the error, the chatbot was a “separate legal entity” and thus was responsible for its actions.
While Air Canada argued correct information was available on its website, Rivers said the company did “not explain why the webpage titled ‘Bereavement Travel’ was inherently more trustworthy” than its chatbot.
The original article contains 414 words, the summary contains 164 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
They weren’t misled. That implies that the bot was able to understand company policy.
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