Norse Atlantic Airways does have human customer service workers, but in recent years, the airline has leaned into a tech-forward approach, deploying AI agents to help power its operation.
Caroline Haskins of WIRED has an article today outlining her recent attempts to receive a refund for a cancelled flight.
Not only is this a story about poor (really, almost the worst) customer service, it’s also about A.I., the idea that technology can be better than humans, and how a disparate financial network and lackadisical regulatory bodies allow an environment where scammers have the first Google search results for an airline’s customer service.
Instead of the simple and direct flow: customer → airline customer service representative
We get: customer → airline A.I. agent → Google → scam website or scam phone number → customer loses out on more money → consumer complaint
Tell me why we want to live in this type of world? Tell me how technology and A.I. alone were the right business choice here?
It might have something to do with this part of the article:
In early May, Norse announced that it was cutting its administrative staff by 35 percent, and in an earnings call two weeks later, CEO Eivind Roald said that the airline is considering opportunities for a sale or merger.
Ah, executives cut costs to make themselves look more attractive for a buyout or merger, get big payouts, and then screw a new set of customers all over again.
Got it. I missed that chapter from Adam Smith.