AI hallucinations are making entitled customers even worse

PUBLISHER ARTICLE PREVIEW

From the original article

Madison, a server in New York City, greets every table by asking about each diner’s allergies. Lately, there have been some close calls. “Sometimes people will tell me they have a shellfish allergy, and I’ll come back, and they won’t ask me any questions,” says Madison, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her identity. “And they’ll order a fish dish that comes with a broth that is made of shellfish.”

When she tells them a dish contains an allergen, she’s had guests push back, saying ChatGPT disagrees. “They just want to talk to ChatGPT,” Madison explains. “You’re allergic to shellfish, and ChatGPT says there’s no shellfish in this, and we are telling you, yes there is!”

Mass adoption of generative AI tools is rewriting the old adage that has long been a thorn in the side of restaurant and retail workers: “The customer is always right.” But what happens when the customer expects you to play along with something AI made up?

Beyond ignoring her warnings about allergens, Madison has noticed an increased reliance on generative AI among patrons at the Michelin-recommended Italian restaurant where she worked until recently. “The amount of times I’ve suggested, ‘Let me grab the sommelier for you,’ and they say, ‘No, I’ll just ask ChatGPT,’ or somms have been dismissed from the table because the guest has a preference for ChatGPT, that has been increasing quite a bit,” she says.

She’s had customers request bottles that the restaurant doesn’t carry — or, in some cases, that don’t exist at all.

For Madison, these AI hallucinations exacerbate some people’s preexisting anxieties about wine. “Some people have always had an issue with sommeliers, thinking ‘These people are like used car salesmen trying to get us to spend way more than we want to on a bottle of wine,’” she says, “or there are people who get in their heads and