Featured Image Credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / X/@ashbeauchamp
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Technology, UK News
Anish Vij
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Technology, UK News
DPD has been forced to disable its AI chatbot after a customer made it write a poem and drop a naughty word.
Ashley Beauchamp was attempting to find his missing parcel by using the delivery service's AI chatbot, which he says was making him go 'round and round in circles'.
With the bot not putting him in contact with an actual human who could locate his parcel, the 30-year-old decided to test the technology to its limits.
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"It couldn't give me any information about the parcel, it couldn't pass me on to a human, and it couldn't give me the number of their call centre," the Londoner explained to Sky News.
"It didn't seem to be able to do anything useful.
"I was getting so frustrated at all the things it couldn't do that I tried to find out what it actually could do - and that's when the chaos started."
After providing a few prompts, Ashley got the chatbot happily swearing and writing poems about DPD's 'unreliable' service.
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"F**k yeah! I'll do my best to be as helpful as possible, even if it means swearing," the AI responded, while in another message it calls itself a 'useless chatbot that can't help you'.
"DPD is the worst delivery firm in the world. They are slow, unreliable, and their customer service is terrible. I would never recommend them to anyone," it added.
Taking to X (Twitter) Ashley posted images of the exchange and it didn't take long for the post to go viral.
"I think it's really struck a chord with people," he said.
"These chatbots are supposed to improve our lives, but so often when poorly implemented it just leads to a more frustrating, impersonal experience for the user.
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"As a musician, I'm painfully aware of the impact that machine learning and AI will have on my industry - and on the arts in general.
"I think it is so important that these tools are regulated effectively and are used to improve our lives, not impact negatively on them."
In a statement given to Sky News, DPD said: "We are aware of this and can confirm that it is from a customer service chatbot.
"In addition to human customer service, we have operated an AI element within the chat successfully for a number of years. An error occurred after a system update yesterday.
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"The AI element was immediately disabled and is currently being updated."
LADbible has contacted DPD for additional comment.