\u201cHi, you\u2019ve reached Orwellian Enterprises. Press six to be lost in an endless maze, seven if this drives you crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Used to be (in the good ol\u2019 dayz), when I wound up in some company\u2019s maddening phone tree, I could just keep hitting 0, eventually defaulting to a live, you know, human. But they figured it out and eliminated that option. Want proof? Try calling Verizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also manage a number of websites that include BobbyVegas and KeepRaleighSquirrrely, etc., so I deal with web companies \u2014 a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Blue Domino eliminated live customer service, I eliminated Blue Domino and switched to GoDaddy. Go! Daddy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently I encountered this worrying trend at two of my favorite places, the Plaza and Rio. And here\u2019s another shoutout to Jonathan Jossel, president of the Plaza. Yo! JJ! Thank you! You dumped the AI girl on your phone system! My man! Back to old school is cool. Where humans rule!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, at the Rio, a very cheerful voice answers, \u201cHi! I\u2019m Stacey! How can I help you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being an OWG (Old White Guy) and an easy mark for the female persuasion, I hear a friendly voice, I assume it\u2019s a human. Alas, after one or two questions, it\u2019s clear Stacey is actually a GoogleBot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked for a less-than-direct answer like, \u201cI need to make a reservation using my LVA coupon, but I don\u2019t have my Rewards number,\u201d Stacey responds ever so cheerfully,
\u201cOkay! I can help you with that!\u201d then proceeds to do just the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My problem? I always have a question. AI\u2019s problem? My query rarely fits auto response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recently read a critique of AI that it\u2019s not \u201cintelligent.\u201d It\u2019s just a ginormous database, scouring matching words like auto spell check \u2026 which also drives me crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A friend recently used AI for a VP strategy query and literally got the wrong answer.
People, AI doesn\u2019t THINK. It repeats what it finds. Right or wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I keep asking for a Rio AGENT and lo and behold \u2026 a human!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A note about using the LVA MRB coupon for an amazing 30% off the best rate and NRF (NO Resort Fee) saving $57 a night at the Rio: BE PATIENT. They always go, \u201cWow. Great rate. Let me check with my supervisor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just chill. It\u2019s worth the wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My five-night stay \u2014 Sunday through Thursday, king bed, Masquerade Tower (my fave, old school, great view of the Strip, and a tub!) was \u2026 Oh wait. In my last blog I claimed $135 for four nights. I lied. It was $122 for five nights. Oops. My bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I haven\u2019t seen rates like that since the Stardust back in the day ($17 with $10 back and a $5 buffet coupon.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh and one other thing. Why is it always Stacy or Tracy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why not KinkyRiotGrrl or UsedToBeASpearmintRhinoStripper? If you\u2019re going to do Vegas AI, I mean, be Vegas. OK?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Better yet \u2026 delete!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cHi, you\u2019ve reached Orwellian Enterprises. Press six to be lost in an endless maze, seven if this drives you crazy.\u201d Used to be (in the good ol\u2019 dayz), when I wound up in some company\u2019s maddening phone tree, I could just keep hitting 0, eventually defaulting to a live, you know, human. But they figured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86405,"featured_media":843497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1083],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bobby-vegas-friends-dont-let-friends-play-triple-zero-roulette.jpg?fit=980%2C588&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":891113,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891112\/revisions\/891113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}