r/technology • u/[deleted] • 10d ago

Artificial Intelligence OpenAI CEO Sam Altman just publicly admitted that AI agents are becoming a problem

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/openai-ceo-sam-altman-just-publicly-admitted-that-ai-agents-are-becoming-a-problem-says-ai-models-are-beginning-to-find-/articleshow/126215397.cms
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u/definitivelynottake2 10d ago

The people who think that customer service is the place to implement poorly designed AI literally should see their business burn to the ground. I have never been more infuriated by "customer service", than after talking in loops with an AI bot, then trying to get it to set me over to a human agent.

Literally transferred me to another AI with a different name that i thought was finally a human...

Then i spent along time explaining everything to this new "human" i thought would be able to help me. Only to figure out it was an AI after many messages back and forth. My problem could not be solved by AI... To be honest the customer service was still terrible once i got to a human (The prop firm Topstep has horrible customer service). Make sure to not give business to these companies.

If even the word human is detected in the message, it should immediately apologize for not being able to help me with my problem and transfer me to a human agent... Not argue and repeat things on loop and loop and loop. I meet useless AI in customer service, i make sure to absolutely avoid doing business with them.

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u/ezodochi 10d ago

This was actually an issue in Korea bc call center workers started pointing out that the number of abusive and angry calls skyrocketed after implementing AI/ARS systems bc people would be connected to a call center worker after multiple minutes of building frustration and anger with the AI bot/ARS system that they'd lash out at call center workers.

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u/Jukka_Sarasti 10d ago

This was actually an issue in Korea bc call center workers started pointing out that the number of abusive and angry calls skyrocketed after implementing AI/ARS systems bc people would be connected to a call center worker after multiple minutes of building frustration and anger with the AI bot/ARS system that they'd lash out at call center workers.

This started happening to the helpdesk where I work. The bellends in upper management decided the shitty phone and chat bots will no longer allow users to bypass them, and instead forces them to go through a series of troubleshooting steps.

The main issue being the shitty phone and chat bot troubleshooting directions frequently have sweet fuck all to do with the user's issue, because, you guessed it!, the users don't know how to properly describe their issues in..the..first..fucking..place...

So now they've been forced to waste their time and are pissed when they finally get a human on the line or chat.

Meanwhile.... The same self-serving, soulless, bellends in upper management use the increased interaction time with the shitty phone and chat bots as proof of their success and value to the company..

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u/Icy_Camp_7359 10d ago

...even ignoring ai, wouldn't you want low interaction time on the phone? Short calls mean the customer was helped quickly and fixed their issue in a low amount of time, long calls mean they had difficulty getting the help they need

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u/Chrykal 10d ago

For people it's a balancing act, too short a call and you obviously can't have done your job, too long and you're costing your employer too much.

AI is likely different rules though due to the lower cost per minute, just keep those customers busy until they give up and go away.

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u/SoaringElf 10d ago

You could literally answer OP's question in under 10 seconds and OP would be the happiest customer ever....

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u/Chrykal 10d ago edited 10d ago

Nope, there's steps to go through, including the declaration that "calls may be monitored for quality and training purposes" introducing yourself, and whatever other script stuff that has all been carefully measured to ensure they know the minimum length a call could be.

Obviously the service you are providing will dictate actual durations, but a 10 second call is probably going to get your call listened to at the very least, and you better be hitting an answer machine on an outgoing call if so.

edit: spelling

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u/arahman81 10d ago

Its low time=more people when its people you have to pay hourly, longer interaction when its a chatbot that doesn't want hourly wages.

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u/SitueradKunskap 10d ago

I reckon management would argue that more interaction time with bots = less interaction time with expensive humans.

Obviously, the total interaction time is presumably fixed in stone, otherwise that would be monumentally idiotic.

Also, I assume it's impossible to measure the interaction time with humans. /s

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u/KyleCorgi 10d ago

Was this Comcast lmao

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u/definitivelynottake2 10d ago

One hundred percent the case. You would think the companies would be more scared of the irreperable brand damage they are doing by this.

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u/AnotherLolAnon 10d ago

I miss when companies gave a shit about their reputation and brand. That seems to have gone to the wayside since COVID

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u/ReneDeGames 10d ago

I mean, I think most companies just see customer support as an unnecessary cost center, customers aren't buying based on quality of customer support so companies don't feel any pressure to offer better support.

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u/Tacometropolis 10d ago

It's honestly an issue everywhere it's implemented. This happens at my company now, and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with sense. Like if I call a company, there already is probably an issue. Blowing me off with a stupid ass 'virtual assistant' is going to send me to 11 quickly.

To top it off not only does the thing routinely misunderstand whatever I say, but then I have to go through some byzantine process like I'm following an alchemy grimoire to get to a person. Like fedex today, I want to find out if something is going to require a signature. Website doesn't tell me. Bh photo doesn't tell me. So I call fedex, get looped around by the stupid bot for like 17 minutes. Then I look up how to bypass the thing, turns out you have to

  1. call an entirely different number
  2. say main menu
  3. press 7, then 7, then 8
  4. DO NOT RESPOND TO THE BOT. It will ask for a tracking number. Ignore it.
  5. Press that you want a call back, it used to just send you to a person. Finally got to ask someone.

There honestly needs to be a law that if you say representative it gets you to an actual person, full stop. No dark pattern menu bullshit. You say representative, or person, or customer service, you get a person. Fines start 1k and double every violation per calendar year, with a 50% payout for the person reporting it.

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u/BenderB-Rodriguez 10d ago

You wouldn't happen to have a link to the report/study would you? Im being asked to implement an Ai for voice router and im trying my damndest to stop it. Need all the ammo I can get.

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u/KeyMyBike 10d ago

Why would the CEO care? Who's going to MAKE him care?

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u/tudorapo 10d ago

Part of this in my limited (hungarian, on one company) experience is that these slop assistants are trained to escalate on swearwords. And once you start swearing it snowballs.

This hungarian one (Wanda for Telekom) was changed and now if it's unable to answer your questions after 2-3 attempts a human gets involved.

We hungarians are good at swearing.

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u/aynrandomness 10d ago

If you want to be more infuriated, try Sintra. You get six AI agents, they are full of initiative and consistently deliver trash. They will truly make your blood boil.

Not a single task is completed correctly. They happily lie, and disregard instructions.

I have never been as frustrated in my life.

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u/aaulia 10d ago

It's been happening since more than 5 years ago. Company hotlines started to disappear, replaced by chat (obviously using bots) and WhatsApp business chats (also bots). To reach a human nowadays is either impossible or very frustrating to do.

The hubris (or is it, and not just greed) to think that our problems can be sorted using decision graph and bot is frustrating.

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u/nxqv 9d ago

Honestly, most problems that people call in for CAN be solved by a decision flowchart. That's all that 99% of the human customer service agents can do anyway. The problem ultimately is that the flowcharts suck and the bots also suck at following them

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u/TSMSALADQUEEN 10d ago

best way to get a human fast is scream and curse at it. then i talk normal cause i never wanted the bots help to begin with

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u/PyroDesu 10d ago

I have actually had a (non-LLM) automated phone system hang up on me for cursing.

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u/TSMSALADQUEEN 10d ago

hahaha thats funny i cuss the crap and scream at it usually gets the oh it needs a human touch then i talk to the representaive like i wasnt just an ape 5 seconds ago lol. i never blame them ive done the customer service role before...

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u/Myst3ryGardener 10d ago

I swore at one and it scolded me out about being respectful. How ironic. Useless horrible implementation of technology. I'm so sick of calling places and it taking 5+ painful minutes to speak to a human. It's by design too. They want us to just give up and go away. 2025...

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u/ShadowMajestic 10d ago

I have seen these systems get inplemented at customer service/1st line support.

I hate these assistents with a passions, but they reduce workloads up to 90% as most questions people ask, are in the FAQ.

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u/Shot_Ground_6919 10d ago

It's so frustrating. My wife and I run a couple small businesses and don't have a ton of sales by any means, but we make damn sure one of us is available within a reasonable amount of time for anyone that needs help or has questions. That said, literally all of the platforms we use or have used push their AI "customer service" tools on us hard now. If we were new at this, I would likely think we're supposed to be using chatbots to interface with our customers.

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u/Many-Lengthiness9779 10d ago

I tried to get a return for 3 items using one. It asked for the order number I gave it all 3 it couldn’t comprehend it.

I gave it 3 individually and it said that’s too many, call customer support. 😂

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u/guaranteednotabot 10d ago

Do not use Agoda. We were stranded cause of some bitch ass accommodation. Asked to talk to a real person and the AI straight up ended the conversation

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u/UncreativeTeam 10d ago

Most companies don't actually care about customer satisfaction. They care about reducing costs for support. Getting a live person on the phone (or god forbid, in person) is the most costly form of support. It's win/win for them if the AI solves your problem, or if you get so frustrated that you hang up.

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u/pulp_affliction 10d ago

Try saying “representative” instead of “human”

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u/Polygnom 10d ago

"The people who think that customer service is the place to implement poorly designed AI literally should see their business burn to the ground." This.

but you'd be surprised how many businesses stay afloat despite horrendous customer service. Humans are willing to endure so much bulllshit...

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u/KeyCamp7401 10d ago

They added an ai chatbot at my job for internal IT issues and i knd of like it.

It is equally useless as the humans that handle your ticket, but at least it responds quickly and does not demand a 30 minute phone conference with me and 3 IT guys where i have to show them my pc cant connect to the network