I was arguing with an AI chatbot. And I was losing.

Customer service has been delegated almost exclusively to machines these days. In theory that is more efficient. Certainly it is for the business, somewhat less for the customer. The AI chatbots are indeed artificial, but their intelligence seems to be sadly lacking.

I wanted to watch a particular streaming service on my television, which for some reason had decided to log me off after my previous session. That shouldn’t be a problem, just re-enter the password. Simple.

Except it wasn’t. There was no place to enter a password. Instead there was a QR code and a number, which directed me to a website on my phone. Enter the number and my television would be reconnected.

Except the number was already entered on my phone screen. When I re-entered it, nothing happened.

I rebooted TV and phone and repeated the process. Same result.

Trying to call the help line got me connected – with silence. Something picked up the call, but there was no further response.

Going through the process again on my phone I reluctantly used the automated chatbot assistant that was being offered. My experience is that my problems are always more complex than the simple programming of these bots can handle. But there seemed no way to contact a human.

I followed the instructions, same as I had done before. They didn’t work. I told the chatbot that. It’s response was to repeat the same instructions.

I said that wouldn’t work. It repeated the instructions. No intelligence on display. I suggested it connect me with a human, it offered the same installation instructions.

Then it asked if there was anything else it could help me with. That’s when I used the magic word: “Cancel.”

After all, what is the point of paying for a service that you can’t access. Why was the simple password login system too complicated for them?

The bot understood the word cancel. Suddenly I was typing with a human.

Who was able to understand the problem, look at their system and log me in. Took a couple of minutes. After I had wasted half an hour dealing with the machine.

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. I wonder when that will start?