Proposed Calif. law prioritizes human customer service agents over AI

A bill making its way through the California Legislature is trying to keep human customer service agents on the other side of the phone.

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Assembly Bill 1609, authored by Democrat Rick Chavez Zbur, would require companies that earn at least $500 million in revenue annually to make sure that people calling customer service have the option to talk with a human rather than an automated chatbot. The bill does not prohibit customer service chatbots, but it requires companies to provide a human option for callers who ask for one within 15 minutes of the request. It also requires them to make customer service numbers obviously accessible on their websites.

Zbur told SFGATE in a phone call that the bill was inspired by a frustrating call he had with a pharmacy. He had been waiting hours on the line to get a basic prescription filled, so he instead went to the pharmacy to resolve the issue. In another instance, the assemblymember said he was on the phone with a credit card company and the chatbot “didn’t understand” what he wanted. He was eventually connected to a human representative, he said, but that option isn’t universally available and is more case-by-case depending on the company.

He said in some cases, artificial intelligence chatbots can give you the answer you’re looking for, like providing you with the hours of operation of a business. But in many other cases, he’s found they are unable to answer the more complicated inquiries that a human would be able to handle.

“Everyone keeps saying, ‘Thank God you’re focusing on this,’” Zbur said, adding that even business leaders have told him they back the proposal. “People who represent large companies tell me this is a great bill; everyone understands with the evolution of technology, a lot of these companies aren’t getting it right.”

The bill would not only make calls easier but also have a positive impact on the workforce, Zbur said. The workforce in California, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been hit hard by artificial intelligence. A recent study commissioned by the state found that highly educated workers are most at risk of layoffs as companies transition into automation, but other research has cautioned that sales and customer service roles are also highly at risk.

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There have been two rounds of amendments on the legislation so far. Originally, Zbur wanted the law to require a company to connect a caller to a human representative within five minutes if they ask for one. Lobbyists pushed back, he said, and at one point asked for that wait time to be up to one hour instead. Zbur eventually compromised with a 15-minute wait time.

Internet.Works, a tech lobby group comprising midsize companies like Automattic, Strava and Etsy, said in a June bill analysis that “these pressures push agents to prioritize speed over actually solving the customer’s problem.” Zbur says he is firm on that time frame, arguing, “We want someone who is calling during their lunch hour [to] get it done when they’re off.”

Zbur said that there are some caveats included in the bill, like if there is a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, when everyone is calling in and not everyone can reach a representative. There’s “some amount of understanding in the bill with those kinds of situations,” he said.

Utility providers like Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, pharmacies like Walgreens, and other daily-use companies like Amazon would be subject to the law if it passes. If they do not comply, companies can be fined $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for any following violation. 

The bill is now headed toward the Senate Appropriations Committee for review.