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Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI
(gizmodo.com)
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this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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I'm not sure there will be a difference either way. Customer service jobs spent decades trying to train humans to act as much as robots as possible. Of course replacing them with a shitty bot seemed to make sense, they were already pretending to be shitty bots.
Any "quality" in customer support comes from individuals circumventing company rules to provide actual support to the customer. AI can't do that.
I do not agree with the idea that humans are being trained to act like robots. Any company with a customer service department is likely tracking the root causes of their customers' issues. With enough data, they can identify the most common problems and their solutions. If the goal is to resolve a customer’s issue as quickly as possible (which seems like a reasonable assumption), it makes sense to guide the customer through the most common solutions first, as that will likely solve the problem.
If someone works in customer service and repeats the same script daily, it's understandable that they may come across as robotic due to sheer boredom. A skilled customer service representative can recognize when to use the script and when to deviate. However, if a company fails to hire the right people and does not offer a fair salary, those best suited for the role are unlikely to take the job.
My wife is a customer service manager/trainer. Hiring actually competent people who know how to just listen to the customer and understand their needs is apparently really fucking hard. I've heard some stories of such dumbfuckery...
And once they are in, HR/lawyers make it so fucking hard to fire anyone. If you get a decent customer service person, either as an employer or customer, appreciate them.
I work in support; not only is it hard to find someone competent but it's an incredibly draining job/career because of both management and customers. People are attracted to it because barrier to entry is low, and half the time the actual technical part isn't necessarily hard, it's the emotional baggage you're expected to carry essentially at all times. There's been multiple instances where I've been so burned out, I'm almost certain it's permanently altered my brain chemistry. On top of that you have low wages, long hours, some places are B2B calls, expected to handle multiple chats at once, and some managers really like to snoop to see what you're doing all day(I see your icon went idle for 3 seconds, you're not taking a bathroom break are you? We need all hands on deck at all times).
This will never go away as long as it's seen as a job any idiot can do. Companies need to change how they truly value support and only then will it get better for the customer. I agree with you; if you find someone good try to be appreciative because the bad ones are a dime a dozen and we are all paid shit.