YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: Press A Button, Get A Human

Friends:

Good things are happening! Customer service calls will get less annoying, a federal judge refuses to gas up pipelines, Massachusetts millionaires pay up, and customers strike back at greedflation.

Rock the boat.

Michael Dell, founder of Dell, Inc., working on a customer service phone line in 2004. (AP Photo / Harry Cabluck)

Don’t Bank On Chatbots

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will issue new rules about how banks and financial institutions can use chatbots and artificial intelligence programs that can be time-consuming and burdensome, to deter customers from obtaining refunds or canceling unwanted services, with the goal of maximizing profits. The agency will also require banks to allow customers to reach a human by clicking a single button in order to avoid “doom loops,” where a caller is trapped in a maze of menu options and automated recordings.