Air Canada must honor refund policy invented by airline’s chatbot

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Air Canada must honor refund policy invented by airline’s chatbot

Air Canada appears to have quietly killed its costly chatbot support.

arstechnica.com

This was an interesting story, considering how many companies are using AI for customer service purposes. There may have been some unexpected pitfalls if the chatbots give inaccurate information that the company is liable for.

The chatbot provided inaccurate information, encouraging Moffatt to book a flight immediately and then request a refund within 90 days. In reality, Air Canada's policy explicitly stated that the airline will not provide refunds for bereavement travel after the flight is booked. Moffatt dutifully attempted to follow the chatbot's advice and request a refund but was shocked that the request was rejected.

According to Air Canada, Moffatt never should have trusted the chatbot and the airline should not be liable for the chatbot's misleading information because Air Canada essentially argued that "the chatbot is a separate legal entity that is responsible for its own actions," a court order said.

Experts told the Vancouver Sun that Moffatt's case appeared to be the first time a Canadian company tried to argue that it wasn't liable for information provided by its chatbot.

They found in favor of Moffatt.

Tribunal member Christopher Rivers, who decided the case in favor of Moffatt, called Air Canada's defense "remarkable."

"Air Canada argues it cannot be held liable for information provided by one of its agents, servants, or representatives—including a chatbot," Rivers wrote. "It does not explain why it believes that is the case" or "why the webpage titled 'Bereavement travel' was inherently more trustworthy than its chatbot."

Further, Rivers found that Moffatt had "no reason" to believe that one part of Air Canada's website would be accurate and another would not.

Air Canada "does not explain why customers should have to double-check information found in one part of its website on another part of its website," Rivers wrote.

This whole AI thing seems promising, but it still seems like they have a long way to go before it can handle any communication beyond a certain level of complexity. If a company's chatbot can get them sued and they end up losing money, they may decide it's not worth it. It seems Air Canada has since shut down their chatbot.