13-7-2023 (NEW DELHI) Suumit Shah, the 31-year-old CEO of India-based e-commerce platform Dukaan, is facing severe criticism online after terminating 90 percent of the company’s customer support staff, citing the superior performance of an AI chatbot. The announcement sparked outrage among netizens, as reported by Insider.
In a tweet, Shah explained the decision, stating, “We had to layoff 90 percent of our support team because of this AI chatbot. Tough? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.” He further argued in a lengthy Twitter thread, accompanied by screenshots from movies like “iRobot” and “Limitless,” that the introduction of the AI chatbot had significantly reduced response times from over two hours to less than two minutes.
However, many users questioned Shah’s justification for laying off numerous employees, suspecting financial difficulties and a failing business as the true reasons behind the decision. Critics also pointed out that the quality of Dukaan’s customer service had suffered since the implementation of the chatbot.
Several users shared their negative experiences with the AI chatbot, expressing frustration over its inability to provide satisfactory assistance. Concerns were raised about a future where human interaction in customer support is replaced entirely by bots, potentially leading to unresolved issues and dissatisfaction among customers.
In an interview with Insider, Shah defended the layoffs, acknowledging that posting about them on social media was regrettable. He believed that the adoption of AI in customer support would become a common practice among businesses in the future. However, his approach to sharing the news on Twitter was seen as callous and lacking empathy.
We had to layoff 90% of our support team because of this AI chatbot.
Tough? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.
The results?
Time to first response went from 1m 44s to INSTANT!
Resolution time went from 2h 13m to 3m 12s
Customer support costs reduced by ~85%Here’s how’s we did it ????
— Suumit Shah (@suumitshah) July 10, 2023
