- Air Canada’s Misstep: In mid-February 2024, a court ruled that Air Canada had to honour incorrect information its booking assistant chatbot provided to a customer, which prevented the customer from claiming a refund as instructed. Air Canada stated that the chatbot was separate from the company and so the airline wasn’t responsible for the bot’s promises – an argument the judge rejected. The takeaway? Chatbots are brand ambassadors and responsible (just like human employees) for conveying accurate information.
- Not-Quite-Automated Taxes: US-headquartered tax prep services H&R Block and TurboTax introduced AI assistants for the 2024 tax season, but early trials suggest they tend to provide misleading, incorrect or irrelevant information rather than practical advice. While both services are advertised as “in beta”, this places undue burden onto users “who probably aren’t in a position to evaluate the [tax] situation”, writes Washington Post journalist Geoffrey A Fowler, who tested the bots.
- Personal Privacy Servers: Debuting at Mobile World Congress 2024, Finnish start-up Jolla presented its concept for a personal-cloud-device-meets-AI-router, intended for smartphones. It’s a small black box that stores sensitive information and runs intensive AI computing processes. Jolla argues this is safer than running AI on a phone (which is increasingly common) because smartphones are vulnerable to hacking. Storing data separately ensures security without sacrificing functionality.
- Brand Implications: The “Wild West” of AI is (slowly) closing, as legislative and consumer scrutiny increases on emerging services. Alongside trustworthiness, expect clarity on how AI can and should behave, especially when engaging with consumers. Rather than stymie creativity, these limits will unlock possibilities for brands, which will be able to design AI tools with full understanding of the technological, social and legislative expectations for their performance.
For more, see 10 Tech Trends to Watch 24/25.
