Questioning the Chatbot: scrutinising the performance of Telco customer service chatbots in terms of service, transparency, safety, privacy and security

CAIDE is delighted to have received a grant from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN.)

Telcos are increasingly using chatbots, and other forms of automated assistants, to process customer questions, requests and complaints. From a telco’s perspective, the use of chatbots has the attraction of responding to customers more quickly and efficiently. For consumers, there may be gains in reduced waiting times, and the flexibility of 24/7 service. There are also risks of harms, including from misunderstandings about the character of the bot, unequal access and exclusion, poor service outcomes, privacy and cyber-security breaches, and scams perpetrated through lookalike bots. This project seeks to investigate and recommend strategies to respond to these risks.

View the grant announcement here.

Project Team

• Professor Reeva Lederman (CIS, CAIDE Steering Comittee)
• Professor Jeannie Paterson (MLS, CAIDE Co-Director)
• Dr Simon Coghlan (Senior Research Fellow in Digital Ethics, CIS, CAIDE)
• Dr Yvette Maker (CAIDE Research Fellow and Research Manager, Research Fellow MSEI)