Air Canada Called Its Chatbot a Separate Legal Entity, Then Lost in Tribunal

Air Canada’s website chatbot told a grieving customer he could claim a bereavement discount after booking, a refund the airline did not actually offer, so he paid full fare and then got stiffed. Hauled before British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal, Air Canada tried the boldest defense in customer-service history, arguing the chatbot was a separate legal entity responsible for its own statements. Tribunal member Christopher Rivers was unmoved, ruled the airline liable for what its own bot promised, and ordered it to pay. A company wants the productivity of a robot employee and none of the responsibility for what the robot tells its customers. Read Ars Technica on the ruling.