Ka-ching: faceless technology drives today’s toll roads and other businesses. Photo: Sardaka.
Turns out AI isn’t that smart after all.
Pinging Canberra drivers whose vehicles were nowhere near Sydney toll roads is pretty dumb after all.
The number may have been the same – thanks, NSW, for forgetting about us Yogis and duplicating the Y series – but the scanners could not even pick up the clearly marked ACT on the plates.
Then again, AI can only be as clever as its training, so maybe that’s on the humans.
Trouble is, this sort of consumer nightmare has been bubbling away for years and will only get worse as automation accelerates and becomes further entrenched in how we not just do business but live our lives day to day.
The interface between consumer and provider has become increasingly anonymised as governments and businesses, always seeking cost savings and efficiency gains, rely more on technology, cutting humans out of the equation.
Our business relationships have become perfunctory as the automatic payment systems run like clockwork, scooping up billions of dollars with relentless efficiency.
Taxes and charges are raised, landing in our inboxes, often without raising an eyebrow and, if not already sated by direct debit, paid with a few careless clicks.
For the privilege of spurning cash, we are hit with a card surcharge that most of us wear because of the convenience and its relative insignificance.
But multiply all those millions of transactions and it is BIG money.
No one can doubt that technology has changed our lives for the better, making commerce easier and saving us time in travel and queues.
The downside, though, is that dealing with the relentless logic of machines, even the increasingly sophisticated chatbots that flash up from the screen, is not the same as dealing with real people. However, some call centre staff are not much better, especially if they work off tightly written scripts or are based overseas.
On the other side of the counter, the machines coldly calculate with efficiency but little understanding.
For many people, fatigue sets in, and a deferential indifference takes hold, unquestioningly accepting a charge or a payment.
So the great online cash register clicks on.
And, as the Sydney toll issue shows, when a customer notices something does not add up they face the Kafkaesque ordeal of (1) trying to contact somebody, (2) trying to convince a low-level functionary that their tech has made a mistake and (3) trying to recover their losses even when it is clear the fault is theirs.
As AI advances, it is hard to believe that these sorts of situations will improve. Is consumer law keeping up? What kind of regulation can protect consumers? What obligations should companies have? Can they be enforced?
It is hard enough to avoid spammers and scammers without having to be ever alert to the voracious appetites of tech-driven companies that rely on set-and-forget attitudes and business models on autopilot.
Our policymakers and legislators need to get on top of this and stay ahead of the curve, not be left in technology’s wake playing catch-up.
