The author argues that customers do not actually want chat bots for customer service, contrary to what companies claim. Chat bots can only handle simple, routine queries, but for complicated issues customers want to speak to a human representative. Companies are pushing chat bots to reduce costs and increase profits, without considering the negative impact on customer experience. The author only sees chat bots as useful for customers when used to cancel subscriptions that require contacting customer service, showing how frustrating the current system is. The author believes we should build technology that customers actually want and would appreciate, rather than focusing on bad experiences or defending against them.
Most chatbots are speed bumps. Like phone menu trees and hold times, they slow you down on your way to get actual help.
Sometimes that means you give up before getting to the real help, which saves money on support.
Whether it’s the intended effect or not, it is so well known at this point that we shouldn’t excuse anyone using this tactic. It’s malicious.