Chatbot Dystopia

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a cheerful chatbot saying "I am happy to assist you today" without actually helping — forever.

Are we living in a dystopia and how would we know it if we were? I was thinking about this the other day and it seemed like a ludicrous question.

We have access to electricity, refrigeration, fresh water, labour-saving devices, dentistry, abundant food, computers that let us communicate with anyone on the planet. There is mass literacy, vanishingly small child mortality, and more sublime entertainment than we could possibly imagine. The greatest emperor in history can hardly match the resources of the median Western citizen.

On the other hand, there is also political extremism, plummeting fertility, toxic chemicals, mass extinctions, the destruction of wilderness, and the threat of climate catastrophe.

Most fears exist on a 10-20 year horizon. They are just far enough away to feel futuristic, but not so far that you can't extrapolate there from current conditions. 10-20 years is also ideal because most people can access memories of what things were like 10-20 years in the past.

The introduction of ChatGPT has provoked a great deal of fear about the future as it potentially automates away lawyers, doctors, coders, journalists, and tech support staff.

Is it a coincidence that Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have laid off tens of thousands of workers just as a transformative AI becomes widely available? Well, yes, it probably is a coincidence. Even so, how many of the remaining jobs are under threat? As I write this, BuzzFeed announced they are starting to outsource content to ChatGPT.

The appeal of software companies for investors is that they can scale to billions of customers without writing much more code. If you run a shop or a restaurant you need to own property and train staff for each location. With software, you just add a couple more server racks. AI turns all jobs except things like yoga teacher or plasterer into software jobs. The trouble, as effective altruists have identified, is what happens if the AI goes bad …

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Someone must have been telling lies about Neil S., for without having done anything wrong his Facebook ad account was disabled one fine morning.

Facebook's business model is simple: signup millions of suckers, learn as much as possible about who they are, and then sell their attention to advertisers. Because they know so much about you (even if you hold back information they know who you are because you tend to be like your friends) it is an incredibly efficient way of advertising. And what’s better is that the businesses have to do all the work. You design your own ads, upload your own customer database, apply filters for who should see the ads, and then you pay Facebook to use their algorithm to send it out to the right audience. A few hundred developers and data scientists created a machine to make billions of dollars.

Of course, this process doesn't always go smoothly. Bad actors can try and manipulate elections. Scammers can target the vulnerable. Societal biases may be perpetuated. Under pressure from the US government and the EU, Facebook has implemented a set of checks to ensure fair play. If they think you have violated one of their policies, the ad gets flagged or your account gets disabled and you have to appeal to their support bots/staff. This is the story — lightly edited — of my attempt to get my account re-enabled.

The background to the story is that I was helping out a University to recruit volunteers to complete a survey about exercise. Universities have policies about where they can spend money and Facebook ad spending is forbidden. I offer my expertise and help them run an effective campaign. At least, that's the idea. This time, my ad ran for a day and then got rejected.

Here is the first appeal:

A Facebook representative will join you shortly.

Support: I see that you are reaching out to our support about a rejected ad, correct?

Me: Yes

Support: I see how important it is for you to have someone looking into this with you so I'm happy to help you Neil!

Me: My advert is being rejected because you seem to think it is employment. It is not employment, it is just a research exercise run by a university. The volunteers will get some vouchers for participating, but it is not employment.

Support: I understand Neil, but all advertisers must go through the ad review process the same way

Me (thinking I’m talking to a bot): Is this all automated?

Support: It depends. Usually the initial review is done by AI but the second review is done in part by humans.

Me: All the ads are basically the same. If there is something wrong with any of them, let me know. If it is not possible to run these adverts, let me know. Just tell me what the problem is. I have wasted too much time on this already!

Support: I'm not finding anything that would trigger this besides the word volunteers

Me: Eh?

Support: I believe that is the main trigger for the ad to be rejected

Me: What?!

Support: Volunteering can be considered a form of work

Me: Well, in this case it is just taking part in a survey, which is hardly work

Support: I understand, but in our system it may still be considered a form of work. If the new ad remains rejected, even after the second review, I would advise you to change that specific word as I do think that changing that would make a difference

Me: … but you don't think i should just edit it now

Support: You can make the edit now yes. But I would wait for the new review to be concluded, as sometimes the ads are initially rejected but when duplicated they can be approved.

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After this appeal, they allowed the ad to run successfully for a week. However, we still had some budget, so I duplicated the ad and, within a few hours, my entire account was disabled. I initiated another chat.

Me: I had a chat with you last week about these adverts and they were approved. Now the entire account has been disabled just for duplicating the same ad campaign. Please sort out these automated systems!

Support: All of our representatives are currently busy. Please continue to wait, and your messages will be seen when the next available representative joins the chat.

[Support] has joined you.

Support: I totally understand how important it is for you and your business so I will do my best to assist you. I can see that you already made an appeal and once that appeal is accepted you will be able to create ads again

Me: What is the delay? It is infuriating that the whole account can just be shut down arbitrarily.

Support: All you need to do now is wait for our team to reviewed your request it can take 2-3 days

Me: Why so long?

Support: It is the normal, Neil. We have thousands of accounts to be reviewed.

Me: Ah, ok, thanks.

Support: These accounts are manually reviewed that's why it can take some time.

Me: ...

Support: Neil are you in the chat with me?

Me: I have my phone nearby, but I'm not sure there is anything more to be said.

THREE DAYS LATER

Me: You said: "We're reviewing the account and will notify you here within 48 hours from when the review was requested." It has been 2 days and I've heard nothing.

Support: Thank you for patiently waiting. I understand the urgency of getting this resolved the soonest and I know this can get complicated. At times, it's easier to talk on the phone about this issue. What is your number?

Me: [Gives Number. Waits]

AN HOUR LATER. BY THIS STAGE I AM FED UP AND AM BLAMING THE BOTS.

Support: My colleague tried to call you 3 times today didn’t you received the calls?

Me: No

Support: 3 calls were made and an email was sent please check your email address and answer the original case agreed?

Me (assuming it is a bot): Why would you lie? I got an email but no phone calls.

Support: we have not lied Neil. 3 calls were attempted from our end.

Me (still assuming it is a bot): This is the worst support I have ever received What is so difficult about running a couple of ads? It is maddening that your systems work so badly that I can’t do that without wasting hours talking to you. What is the point?

Support: I am sorry to hear about that Neil but it’s not my fault I am doing my best to help you. Since I have answered all you questions and there´s no other matter to be assisted with today. I will now close this chat. Thank you for contacting Support, have a lovely day.

Me: I am not blaming you in particular. If you are a person and not a bot.

Support: I will now close this chat. This chat has ended. Thanks again for using Facebook.

Me (ashamed): …

TWO WEEKS LATER

Support: Hi Neil! Thank you for contacting Facebook.

Me: I just don't understand why it is taking so long? The whole bureaucracy seems totally opaque and Kafkaesque. No visibility of what is going on.

Support: Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. I understand how important this is and finding the reason and resolution is a must. I'll do my best to help you.

Me: I have been running a couple of ads to get people to participate in a survey and its like I'm Al Capone under investigation by the FBI

Support: Upon checking here, it seems that your Ad Account was flagged due to possible policy violations. I can see here as well that you have already done the right thing which is to file an appeal to have the account reviewed by our Internal Team.

Me: But how long is this going to take?

Support: Our Internal Team is making sure to not missed any information that might lead to permanently disabling the Ad account. Here is what I am going to do, I will make sure that everything will be documented during this chat regarding your issue.

Me (trying to be nice): thank you

Support: You are most welcome, Neil. I hope I was able to clarify all information you needed for today. Was I able to assist you with all the questions you have for today?

Me (frustrated): Not really, it just reminded me how bad this whole process has been and how I will try and avoid doing any work that involves Facebook in the future

Support: Hate to hear it from you, our Internal Team is diligently working on this case for you as I've mentioned we don't want to miss any information that might cause further harm to your business.

A WEEK LATER

A Facebook representative will join you shortly.

Support: Hi Neil. Thank you for contacting Facebook. How may I assist you today?

Me: Why is it so impossible to get any information about what is happening with my account? It has been almost 4 weeks and I haven't heard anything about my ad account review.

Support: You just need to keep a little more patience. I would as well like to share that I have as well had the same concern and it did take time but it was resolved finally by the internal team. Hence, Do not worry! It might have taken longer but you shall receive a Good news soon by the internal team in your support inbox. I as well assure you that you shall not need to go elsewhere as this shall be resolved for you very soon.

Me: …

Support: Rest! I can see the other things on your account is Perfect! I have your Email and as soon I see that everything is fixed. I shall as well contact you to give you the Good news soon. Rest! We shall give you the Good news soon! A little more patience as you know helps us go a long way.

Me: …

Support: Again, we would like to commend you for spending your quality time with us. We hope to hear from you in the future. We are so gratified by the way you cooperated with us on chat.

A WEEK LATER. The chat begins with me retelling the same issue.

Support: What is your issue?

Me: This is about the same issue I have been contacting you about for weeks

Support: Oh okay, please let me know your concern. I will try my best to help you out, Neil.

Me: I got these messages saying it would all be sorted out soon. Please go back through this conversation so I don't have to explain it again.

Support: I understand that it is very important for you and your business and I truly want that this should be resolved as soon as possible.

Me: It has been going on since 12 december.

Support: Neil, I would like to inform you that at first these accounts are reviewed by the system, which can be wrong as well.

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By the end of all this, I feel like Lister with his toaster in Red Dwarf:

Neil Scott @MrNeilScott

Red Dwarf got there first.