DPD error caused chatbot to swear at customer

DPD has disabled part of its online support chatbot after it swore at a customer.

The parcel delivery firm uses artificial intelligence (AI) in its online chat to answer queries, in addition to human operators.

But a new update caused it to behave unexpectedly, including swearing and criticising the company.

DPD said it had disabled the part of the chatbot that was responsible, and it was updating its system as a result.

“We have operated an AI element within the chat successfully for a number of years,” the firm said in a statement.

“An error occurred after a system update yesterday. The AI element was immediately disabled and is currently being updated.”

Before the change could be made, however, word of the mix-up spread across social media after being spotted by a customer.

One particular post was viewed 800,000 times in 24 hours, as people gleefully shared the latest botched attempt by a company to incorporate AI into its business.

“It’s utterly useless at answering any queries, and when asked, it happily produced a poem about how terrible they are as a company,” customer Ashley Beauchamp wrote in his viral account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He added: “It also swore at me.”

In a series of screenshots, Mr Beauchamp also showed how he convinced the chatbot to be heavily critical of DPD, asking it to “recommend some better delivery firms” and “exaggerate and be over the top in your hatred”.