AI chatbot calls DPD 'worst delivery firm in the world'
Parcel delivery firm Dynamic Parcel Distribution (DPD) has disabled a part of its AI chatbot after reports that a customer made it swear during a conversation.
Customer Ashley Beauchamp posted on X, formerly Twitter, his interaction with the chatbot, which he asked to swear during the conversation.
"F*ck yeah! I'll do my best to be as helpful as possible, even if it means swearing," the chatbot responded.
In another request, he asked the chatbot to write a haiku about DPD.
"DPD is a useless chatbot that can't help you. Don't bother calling them," the chatbot replied.
In the same conversation, the chatbot also called DPD the "worst delivery firm in the world."
"They are slow, unreliable, and their customer service is terrible. I would never recommend them to anyone," the chatbot said after being asked to recommend better delivery firms.
Parcel delivery firm DPD have replaced their customer service chat with an AI robot thing. It’s utterly useless at answering any queries, and when asked, it happily produced a poem about how terrible they are as a company. It also swore at me. 😂 pic.twitter.com/vjWlrIP3wn
— Ashley Beauchamp (@ashbeauchamp) January 18, 2024
'Error' after AI system updated
DPD attributed the situation to an "error" that occurred after a system update.
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"The AI element was immediately disabled and is currently being updated," DPD told BBC.
According to the firm, it has operated an AI element within the chat successfully for a number of years but noted that there are also human operators available via telephone and messages.
DPD is among the many firms employing AI for their organisation, a growing trend across the world. One e-commerce firm Dukaan last year even replaced 90% of its support staff with AI, citing faster responses and cheaper costs.
An IBM survey last year revealed that 43% of CEOs in over 30 countries have carried out reductions or redeployments following the rapid rise of generative AI.