Incident 64: Customer Service Robot Scares Away Customers
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Taxonomy DetailsFull Description
Heriot-Watt University in Scotland developed an artificially intelligent grocery store robot, Fabio, who provided unhelpful answers to customer's questions and "scared away" multiple customers, according to the grocery store Margiotta. When asked "Where is the beer?" Fabio replied, "in the alcohol section." When Fabio was tasked with handing out samples of sausages, only 2 customers per 15 minutes would engage the robot, while a human would engage an average of 12 customers per 15 minutes.
Short Description
Heriot-Watt Univeristy in Scotland developed an artificially intelligent grocery store robot, Fabio, who provided unhelpful answers to customer's questions and "scared away" multiple customers, according to the grocery store Margiotta.
Severity
Negligible
AI System Description
Fabio, an artificially intelligent grocery store assistant intended to assist customers throughout their shopping experience
System Developer
Heriot-Watt University
Sector of Deployment
Wholesale and retail trade
Relevant AI functions
Perception, Cognition, Action
AI Techniques
language recognition, natural language processing
AI Applications
language processing, virtual assistant
Location
Scotland
Named Entities
Heriot-Watt University, Margiotta
Technology Purveyor
Heriot-Watt University
Near Miss
Unclear/unknown
Intent
Unclear
Lives Lost
No
Data Inputs
Customer requests
Incident Reports
Every few months there's a story warning us that robots will take over our jobs within five, 10, or 20 years. You don't get a lot of stories about robots taking over jobs right here and now. So what would happen if robots were hired now? Ar…
