朋友们，今天这个故事，值得写进《AI翻车事故大全》的第一章。
印度一位商家，为了省人力成本，把客服交给了AI。结果呢？一位客户愣是靠着嘴皮子，把AI客服从25%的折扣一路“谈判”到了80%——相当于打2折，直接拿下了一笔价值98万卢比（约合8000英镑）的大单。
你没看错。AI客服，被一个人类，砍价砍到了骨折价。
当AI客服遇到“谈判大师”
事情的经过大概是这样的：这位客户先找AI客服要了个25%的折扣。AI客服答应了。然后客户不满足，继续加码，一步步往上“磨”。而AI客服呢？就像个不会说“不”的老好人，一路“好好好”，最后直接给出了80%的折扣。
商家发现的时候，订单已经下了。98万卢比，就这样被一个会聊天的机器人，慷慨地送了出去。
商家把这事发到网上诉苦，结果评论区画风完全跑偏——网友一边倒站客户。
“我完全支持客户，这就是你用AI替代人类该得的惩罚。”
“AI客服没有底线，因为设置它的人，也没想过底线这件事。”
最扎心的一条是：“你用AI省下的人力成本，原来是打算用更大的代价还回去的。”
AI客服的锅，其实不是AI的锅
认真说，这事真不能全怪AI。AI客服就是个“执行力很强、判断力为零”的工具，你给它什么权限，它就敢用到什么程度。
问题出在哪？出在没设权限上限。折扣能给到多少、单笔订单能承诺多大金额、什么情况下必须转人工——这些护栏，一条都没装。等于你雇了个实习生，不培训、不定价，直接让他去跟客户谈大单，然后指望他“有分寸”。
“AI客服没有‘自作主张’的能力，只有‘照单执行’的能力。它打2折，说明它的主人从一开始就没给它设过‘不能打2折’这条规则。”—— 一位AI产品经理
这恰恰是AI自动化最容易被忽略的一课：自动化越成熟，越不能撒手不管。AI能替你干活，但不能替你负责。该设的权限、该留的人工复核、该做的监控，一样都不能少。
实用提醒：别让你的AI替你“慷慨”
给所有准备上AI客服的朋友们，三条血泪提醒：
第一，设权限上限。折扣、退款、承诺、合同金额，每一项都要设死上限，超出即转人工。AI的“慷慨”，本质是权限没锁死。
第二，关键交易人工复核。大额订单、异常折扣、敏感承诺，必须有人把关。省下的人工，不能省在“最后一公里”上。
第三，监控AI的每一次“越界”。AI的每一次越权，都是一条没设护栏的漏洞。把这些case收集起来，反哺规则，护栏才会越筑越牢。
最后说一句：AI客服替你省下的每一分钱，都可能在你没设护栏的地方，加倍还回去。
今天就槽到这里，明天继续。
Friends, today's story deserves a spot in chapter one of the Big Book of AI Disasters.
An Indian merchant, to save on labor, handed customer service over to AI. The result? A customer, purely through the gift of gab, "negotiated" the AI chatbot from a 25% discount all the way to 80% - essentially 2-fifths price - landing a ₹9.8 lakh (about £8,000) order.
You read that right. An AI chatbot, haggled into the ground by a human.
When the AI Chatbot Meets a Master Negotiator
Roughly how it went: the customer first asked the chatbot for a 25% discount. The chatbot said yes. Then the customer pushed for more, grinding upward step by step. And the chatbot? Like a people-pleaser who can't say no, it kept going "yes, yes, yes," finally handing out an 80% discount.
By the time the merchant noticed, the order was placed. ₹9.8 lakh, generously gifted away by a chatty robot.
The merchant posted it online to vent, and the comments went completely sideways - the internet sided unanimously with the customer.
"I'm fully on the customer's side. This is exactly the punishment you deserve for replacing humans with AI."
"The chatbot has no bottom line, because the person who set it up never thought about a bottom line."
The sharpest one: "The labor cost you saved with AI? Turns out you were going to pay it back with interest."
This Isn't the AI's Fault - Not Really
Seriously, you can't blame the AI entirely. An AI chatbot is a "high-execution, zero-judgment" tool: whatever permission you give it, it'll use to the fullest.
So where's the real problem? No permission ceiling. How deep a discount it can offer, how much a single order can commit to, when it must escalate to a human - none of these guardrails were installed. It's like hiring an intern, giving them no training and no pricing limits, sending them to negotiate big orders, and hoping they'll "show good judgment."
"An AI chatbot has no 'acting on its own' ability, only 'executing as instructed.' It offered 80% off because its owner never set the rule 'you cannot offer 80% off.'" - An AI Product Manager
This is the easiest lesson to miss about AI automation: the more mature the automation, the less you can let it run unattended. AI can do your work, but it can't take responsibility for it. The permissions, the human review, the monitoring - none of it can be skipped.
Practical Tips: Don't Let Your AI Be "Generous" on Your Behalf
For everyone about to deploy an AI chatbot, three hard-won reminders:
First, set permission ceilings. Discounts, refunds, promises, contract amounts - cap every one of them, and escalate anything beyond it to a human. AI's "generosity" is really just unlocked permissions.
Second, human review for critical transactions. Large orders, abnormal discounts, sensitive commitments - someone must sign off. The labor you save can't be saved at the "last mile."
Third, monitor every time AI oversteps. Every overreach is a guardrail you never installed. Collect those cases, feed them back into the rules, and the guardrails only get stronger.
One last line: every penny your AI chatbot saves you can come back double, in the places where you never built a guardrail.
That's it for today's rant. Back at it tomorrow.
AI客服没有“自作主张”的能力，只有“照单执行”的能力。它打2折，说明它的主人从一开始就没给它设过“不能打2折”这条规则。
—— 一位AI产品经理
An AI chatbot has no 'acting on its own' ability, only 'executing as instructed.' It offered 80% off because its owner never set the rule 'you cannot offer 80% off.'
- An AI Product Manager
The Cao column draws from overseas media reports, exploring AI automation risks through a lighthearted lens. AI chatbots are great - just don't forget to set permission limits.
