<![CDATA[Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being]]>Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being.
Discuss.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/5c0c2d4e-2c6c-4e77-a9cd-a8384190d25b/hypothesis-it-is-literally-criminal-fraud-to-make-someone-waste-their-time-interacting-with-a-chatbot-that-can-t-solve-their-problem-when-they-think-they-re-talking-with-a-human-beingRSS for NodeFri, 10 Apr 2026 17:32:29 GMTSun, 29 Mar 2026 22:58:26 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:57:11 GMT]]>@jik I think one of the dumbest things about chatbots is that a lot of them aren't actually generating anything. They'll give the same canned answers over and over again, but they maintain the illusion like you're talking to someone.

You: Hey bot, what day is it today?

Bot: (thinking...)

The bot proceeds to answer your question, at the speed of a very fast typist, but not instantly. It really gives me 28K baud modem vibes the way it pretends to "type" its answer back to you.

The bots will always pause and make you wait briefly even if it's ready spit back an answer a split second after you press enter.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/sysop408/statuses/116319887791835348https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/sysop408/statuses/116319887791835348Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:57:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:48:00 GMT]]>@jik Indeed.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/stuartmarks/statuses/116319851643939675https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/stuartmarks/statuses/116319851643939675Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:48:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:54:59 GMT]]>@stuartmarks This is some serious bullshit.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://federate.social/users/jik/statuses/116319171314397109https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://federate.social/users/jik/statuses/116319171314397109Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:54:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:51:30 GMT]]>@jik FWIW HP apparently had an unconditional 15-minute hold time for support calls. Even they eventually realized it was a bad idea…. (article from Feb 2025). https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/misguided-hp-customer-support-approach-included-forced-15-minute-call-wait-times/

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/stuartmarks/statuses/116319157644128982https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/stuartmarks/statuses/116319157644128982Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:51:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:52:57 GMT]]>@IrrationalMethod @jik Well, I'm in another jurisdiction (Spain), but I'd say discussing how to win the case, i.e. getting proof admitted (hell, getting the case admitted in the first place!), proving intent, assesing damages, etc, might be necessary.

I mean, it's a nice idea and I agree in principle, but agreeing and suing some corpo would get me nowhere.

(Bedtime here, cheers)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/jandi/statuses/116315152556347170https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/jandi/statuses/116315152556347170Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:52:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:48:18 GMT]]>@jik I've found if you curse at the chatbots enough you will get transfered to a person in some cases.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/Lightfighter/statuses/116315134239760719https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/Lightfighter/statuses/116315134239760719Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:48:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:07:18 GMT]]>Corollary: it is _also_ criminal fraud to establish a customer support system whose purpose is not to solve customers' problems but rather to make it so hard for them to get their problem solved that they give up because that's cheaper than solving the problem.
(I'm sure this is what many of the companies rushing to switch customer support to chatbots are doing. Stalling people with a chatbot until they give up is even cheaper than stalling then with a powerless offshore call center!)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://federate.social/users/jik/statuses/116314973065458293https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://federate.social/users/jik/statuses/116314973065458293Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:07:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:00:49 GMT]]>@jik

(On the other hand, I've spent lots of time talking to humans who were working from a script and couldn't solve the problem I called about either. So perhaps this is a new form of the Turing Test?)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/IrrationalMethod/statuses/116314947544841156https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/IrrationalMethod/statuses/116314947544841156Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:00:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Hypothesis: it is literally criminal fraud to make someone waste their time interacting with a chatbot that can't solve their problem when they think they're talking with a human being on Sun, 29 Mar 2026 22:59:47 GMT]]>@jik

Yes. What is there to discuss?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/IrrationalMethod/statuses/116314943500257692https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/IrrationalMethod/statuses/116314943500257692Sun, 29 Mar 2026 22:59:47 GMT