Everyone knows customer service is increasingly automated and impersonal—that’s a “dog bites man” story. It’s not news because it happens all the time. When a man bites a dog, that’s news.

But what if you’re bitten by a chatbot or AI? Aside from newsworthiness, is the owner responsible? Where does liability lie?

O Canada

When Jake Moffat’s grandmother died in 2022, he went online to book an Air Canada flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Toronto for the funeral. As he explored the airline’s bereavement policies, a chatbot on Air Canada’s website provided the following advice:

“If you need to travel immediately or have already traveled and would like to submit your ticket for a reduced bereavement rate, kindly do so within 90 days of the date your ticket was issued by completing our Ticket Refund Application form.”

However, when he applied within 90 days for the reduced rate, Air Canada refused and referred him to its web page on the bereavement policy. Eventually, the airline offered a $200 credit toward a future flight.

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