LONDON (Reuters) - A parcel delivery firm in Britain has disabled the artificial intelligence (AI) function in its online chat systems after a frustrated user coaxed the system into composing a poem about how bad the company's customer service was.
"There was once a chatbot named DPD, Who was useless at providing help," the bot wrote after Ashley Beauchamp gave up trying to get it to share a phone number for customer services and asked it to write a poem about bad chatbot service instead.
"DPD was a waste of time, And a customer's worst nightmare," the bot continued before concluding: "One day, DPD was finally shut down and everyone rejoiced. Finally they could get the help they needed, From a real person who knew what they were doing."
Beauchamp, a pianist and conductor, posted his exchange with the bot on social media platform X on Thursday, since when it has been viewed 1.1 million times.
He said he initially asked the bot to tell him a joke after failing to get information about the status of a parcel and when it did he asked it to write the poem about automated customer service failings. He also encouraged the bot to swear.
Beauchamp told ITV (LON:ITV) television he had still not received the parcel. "I think they might hold it hostage now. I wouldn't blame them," he said. "That's totally on me."
DPD UK said it had used an AI element within its chat system successfully for a number of years alongside its human customer service but an error had occurred after a system update.
"The AI element was immediately disabled and is currently being updated," the company said in a statement reported by ITV.