Cover of #3 | The Bot Dance: Why Every App, Portal and Chatbot Is Wearing Us Out

#3 | The Bot Dance: Why Every App, Portal and Chatbot Is Wearing Us Out

#3 | The Bot Dance: Why Every App, Portal and Chatbot Is Wearing Us Out

Listen for free

View show details

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.
Summary
 A portal to buy a car with cash. A chatbot that approves your cancellation, then refuses the refund. Two school apps, a bond you can’t get back because the portal thinks you’re two people, and a phone overheating before 7.30am. Welcome to the bot dance.Karen and Becky take on bots and portals, starting with a Facebook post shared by both their mums on opposite sides of the world: a society that makes a 90-year-old use a smartphone for the basics has left its elders behind. Then come real examples, the hidden cost of getting stuck, and what happens when a frustrated customer finally reaches a human.This isn’t anti-tech. Karen and Becky love their AI. When a bot works, it’s brilliant. The problem is when there’s no off-ramp and finding a way through becomes the customer’s job.IN THIS EPISODE• Two te reo Māori words that reframe ADHD and autism• The jar question: who cries more in meetings, and why it matters• The Facebook post that stopped both their mums• Real bot dances: refunds, rental bonds, holiday cottages, gas bills and pharmacy phone menus• Why customers arrive angrier, and the first human contact becomes the escalation• Frontline staff as detectives, and the cost of answering the phone• Two things can be true: you can be frustrated and still hear “no”, as long as you’re heard• Getting it right: a simple online question and a founder who still handwrites birthday cards• Voice notes from the AmysKEY TAKEAWAYDon’t add a bot just because everyone else has. Know where it helps, where a human matters, and always build an off-ramp. We fix the system, not the people.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE• Aroreretini (ADHD) and Takiwātanga (autism) — te reo Māori terms developed by linguist Keri Opai. Aroreretini means “attention goes to many things”, while Takiwātanga means “one’s own time and space”.Sources: Te Reo Hāpai — https://tereohapai.nz/Browse/Terms/en-NZKeri Opai, Words Have Great Power: Creating Māori Concepts of Disability (2022) — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dmcn.15266• US survey: 81% of consumers feel AI support is designed to stop them reaching a human.Source: Clutch — How AI Is Reshaping Customer Support (2026)https://clutch.co/resources/how-ai-reshaping-customer-support• Research showing customers become more aggressive when they find out late that a chatbot can’t help.Source: Chatbots and Service Failure: When Does It Lead to Customer Aggression? — Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (2022)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103044• Reports of rising aggression towards local government staff in South Australia. The City of Onkaparinga recorded an 18% increase in reported harassment incidents towards its workforce, while a City of West Torrens survey found that 58% of workers had experienced aggressive, threatening or violent behaviour.Sources:InDaily — “I was stalked”: Spike in threats to council staff across SA (2026)https://www.indailysa.com.au/news/just-in/2026/09/30/i-was-stalked-spike-in-threats-to-council-staff-across-saCity of Onkaparinga — Respectful Public Engagement (2026)https://www.onkaparinganow.com/News-listing/onkaparinga-encourages-respectful-engagementCity of West Torrens — It Reflects on Youhttps://www.westtorrens.sa.gov.au/Council/It-reflects-on-you• Specsavers and founders Doug and Mary Perkins• “The Safety Dance”, the Glee version: the official soundtrack of the bot dance• The Perpetual Cycle of brilliance and burnoutSEND US A VOICE NOTEGot a system you’d like us to take on? Record a 60-second voice note at fixthesystem.world/podcast. We’d love to play an Amy’s story on a future episode.We record on Kaurna land and pay our respects to Elders past and present.If this episode felt familiar, subscribe and share it with someone who’s been doing the bot dance this week.My Brilliant Burnout: there’s nothing brilliant about burnout, but there’s everything brilliant about our brains.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet