A reader writes:
I recently moved across the country to be closer to my partner’s extended family. We moved from a large metropolitan area to a small town, where I transitioned into a new industry. My new job involves answering phones, which, to be honest, is something I’ve always excelled at. However, for whatever reason (geography, industry, or simple increased prevalence of AI), I now encounter people multiple times every day who assume I am an AI. Their reactions range from treating me as non-human (seriously yelling, “Take a guess!”) to questioning my humanity (“Are you real?”) to hanging up and calling me several times before asking to speak to a “real human being.”
Although I admit that my voice is professional and I come from a theater background, my phone voice is not at all top notch. I’ve worked in nine cities in five US states, and this has never been an issue before (which makes me think it’s due to the increasing use of AI). But how do I handle this?
When people assume I’m an AI and address me as such, I usually try not to get offended and then say something (a little joke or phrase) that makes them realize I’m not an AI. “are you real?” But I also have a lot of amusing reactions. Which customers seem to enjoy. But the last situation drives me a little crazy, mostly because customers are quite angry when they finally realize I’m flesh and blood.
Some people have even scolded me, suggesting I explicitly state that I’m human, but that seems odd because, legally in our field (and probably everywhere else), AI is required to identify itself.
Do you have any suggestions to deal with this? It got better when I had a cold, but I don’t want to be permanently full of phlegm. Even when I tone it down a bit (to a degree that would have looked unprofessional at my previous job), I still have to deal with it. Other than eating, cursing, coughing/sneezing, or chewing loudly (none of which I would do intentionally), how do I let people know I’m human? Do I really need to say this? And why is this happening now?
This is happening now as there has been an explosion of companies using AI for frontline customer service and people have become irritated by it because it is often useless. They’ve had disappointing experiences with AI customer service in the past, so they get irritated when they find they have to face it again.
There’s no excuse for people to be rude, especially when you’ve given them no reason to think they’re dealing with AI. But that’s why this is happening.
Could this be an opportunity to use your theater training? Can you experiment with using “tells” that will clearly identify you as human very quickly? I’m not sure what would work best – and it would be weird to have, for example, a fake Southern accent or something that could be read differently from standard AI conversation – but a cough, a word stumble, a different tone of voice… who knows? It could be an interesting challenge to A/B test it and see if you can figure out what works!
