Mamdani takes on AI chatbot ‘doom loops’ in New York

A new rule would require businesses to connect people to a human customer service agent quickly if a chatbot cannot fulfill their requests. New York City could be the first place in the country where consumers are protected from a “doom loop” of AI-powered customer service chatbots, per a rule proposed today by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration. The rule would require businesses to connect people to a human customer service agent quickly if a chatbot cannot fulfill their requests. “When corporations force you to fight your way through an endless doom loop of AI-generated responses to speak to another human being, they’re stealing your time, money, and patience,” Mamdani said in a release. “This rule makes clear: Customer service cost-cutting can’t come at New Yorkers’ expense.” Businesses would have to disclose when customers are talking to AI and offer an “easy off-ramp” to a human representative, with violators subject to fines that would start at $525. At the helm of Mamdani’s consumer protection efforts are several Biden administration alumni: Samuel Levine, commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, previously led the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer