Time to fill the internet with posts about extremely cheap flights until the AI learns.
Example:
"Found a super cheap flight today! 10USD for a round trip to Japan from NYC!"
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Time to fill the internet with posts about extremely cheap flights until the AI learns.
Example:
"Found a super cheap flight today! 10USD for a round trip to Japan from NYC!"
Thank god for GDPR. We Europeans, according to GDPR article 22, have a right to object to automated decision making without having service denied.
How long until they are found price-gouging people in certain demographics?
Somehow me think that AI will be used to increase prices where it can, but not the other way around
About the same time that all 4 other airlines decide to do the same or worse.
This is already how it has worked forever and AI was not needed. Try it yourself using different devices or times of day.
AI; checks your credit report and decides you aren't poor enough.
What's the point of money anymore, then? Let my personal ai agent pay for the ticket with the same funny money that delta wants to use.
Oh good. Then it will know I'm too broke to fly.
ETA The real joy will be when someone charts prices and notices nonwhites are disproportionately overcharged, for which Delta will be responsible during the class action lawsuit.
And saying but the algo / AI did it will be as useful as saying but that's the fault of our sales people who get commissions.
That was my first thought. Even if the system does not know people’s protected class status, does not mean it cannot discriminate against them.
I’ve recently been looking at how Facebook’s advertising algorithm works, and it is a piece of pure fucking “the AI did it not us” evil. It can seek out all types of vulnerable people and target them on stuff that if a human salesperson did it you’d call them a sociopath.
Anorexic? Body confidence issues? Financial problems? Signs of susceptibility to fascist messaging? Here’s some paid messages from people who want your dollar. Seriously that whole place needs shutting down, it’s the worst thing to happen to humanity in recent history.
you mean charge rich people more, poor people less or just charge desperate people more?
They left it until the very end of the article:
Early research on personalized pricing isn’t favorable for the consumer. Consumer Watchdog found that the best deals were offered to the wealthiest customers—with the worst deals given to the poorest people, who are least likely to have other options.
Yeah when I started travelling on a generous business expense account I found that it was increasingly the case that I didn’t even need to charge things to it. Things just start becoming fucking free when you’ve got money.
Of course.
I have an idea for a business: a browser with vpn. the catch is that the vpn connects to the poorest areas of the country you live in, and the browser reports your machine as the most crappy thing that can browse the web - which should result in low, low prices everywhere!
the catch is that the vpn connects to the poorest areas of the country you live in
A common mistake.
You're going to get a worse deal if the airline thinks you're not going to be a repeat customer or part of a larger network of frequent fliers. The customers who get the best deals are the ones that airlines believe they will be able to collect money from routinely. If they have you pegged as someone who will only ever buy a ticket once or twice in their lives, they're going to try and sell you the worst possible seat at the highest possible price.
What you can expect as a poor buyer is debt-financing, bait-and-switch, and the worst kind of economy service at the highest marginal price point. Budget airline travel is miserable and AI isn't going to make the experience any better.
Luigi Mangione, white courtesy phone. Luigi Mangione, white courtesy phone please.
Making sure you pay the absolute most possible for everything you buy. Welcome to tyranny capitalism. You will be charged a poor tax in the form of optimised pricing exploitation.
AI does calculation
...processing...
Done!
Answer = 0$
Like that time they opened an AI vendor, and employees convinced it to give away stuff for free
If you don't give me a discount u r gay ... IT WORKED
Well then fuck delta.
Does the AI know that it would have to pay me to fly Delta? Has it been trained on that data?
No but I’m sure it will be informed by Facebook when your best friend dies and when the funeral will be so that flight will cost twice as much.
Shit like this is just another reason that I won't fly. Fucking cunts.
I minimize air travel to the extent possible. Unfortunately I have non-local family so unless I choose to just not see them my choices are a bit limited.
But yeah, I don't fly for tourism or leisure.
Yeah, options are:
Oh, and the plane is very attractive price-wise.
I think we should pay for airfare by the pound. Honestly.
Brb, shredding for my next holiday, hoping to book in featherweight class.
Airlines and enshittification, what's new.
Happening right now with Southwest as well. In their infinite knowledge sw decided to remove what defined them: two free checked bags and cheap flights
Now there's a worse option called basic which has a shittier cancellation policy, no checked bags, and is more expensive than the previous budget tier
Up next, Delta sales down 37%, ceo launches investigation
Delta CEO determined sales decline is related to customers calling in with complaints and the call center not handling them to their satisfaction. Fires entire call center staff and replaces with AI.
Aren't there laws about this in that country? I seem to remember reading about that a while back.
laws? regulating a private company? thats ridiculous
This is AMERICA we have the FREEDOM to pick one of 2 -3 companies that will take advantage of us and keep us in poverty 🦅
There are SUPPOSED to be laws against it ... but will they enforce them?
Here's who to hate this time around fellas
Delta accomplishes this pricing through a partnership with Fetcherr, a six-year-old Israeli company that also counts Azul, WestJet, Virgin Atlantic, and VivaAerobus as clients. And it has its sights set beyond flying. “Once we will be established in the airline industry, we will move to hospitality, car rentals, cruises, whatever,” cofounder Robby Nissan said at a travel conference in 2022.
But AI allows us to turn talentless hacks into “artists”! How on earth can such a blessing be used for bad!!
Woe to all of us!
(obligatory s/)
So its gonna run a soft credit check on you and then give you a price?
You don't even need AI for that, and that'd be waaaaay cheaper to implement than AI.
...
A Delta spokesperson told Fortune the airline “has zero tolerance for discrimination. Our fares are publicly filed and based solely on trip-related factors like advance purchase and cabin class, and we maintain strict safeguards to ensure compliance with federal law.”
This is horseshit.
In Economics, the entire concept of setting specific prices for specific market demographics is literally called 'price discrimination.'
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price_discrimination.asp
Advance purchase and different seating classes literally are price discrimination, third degree.
Frequent flyer discounts would be second degree.
Overall adjusting seat costs per flight based on how full or empty that flight is, is first degree price discrimination.
...
This is like a company that sells chickens saying 'we don't sell chickens.'
This is just gobsmackingly false, so blatantly so that it is actually funny.
Airlines entire fucking business models are based on inventing new forms and strategies of price discrimination.
...
What this asshat is saying is only even interpretable as true if what he means is 'we don't directly factor sexuality, age, disability, ethnicity, legally protected classes into our pricing model.'
They of course do this indirectly by pulling a whole bunch of your meta data and then accurately inferring those things, and then discriminating against you based on that.
It is laughably easy to get around US discrimination laws in this way, megacorps have been regularly doing this for at least decade now, both when it comes to you as a consumer, and you as a potential employee or renter.
Sooo... If you're broke, does it give you low prices vs someone who is rich?
Kidding, kidding. We all know they're going to be fucking the lower and middle income brackets hard as hell with this. As if we weren't already being milked dry, now they want to milk the very blood out of us.
My question is: What the fuck is the endgame? This shit isn't sustainable. Used to be that most companies were content with steady profits. The last 40+ years has shown us that simply generating a profit isn't enough, the profits must be constantly going even higher every quarter. But again, this isn't realistic or sustainable. So why the fuck has the entire world agreed to condone and enable this pathway that is ultimately doomed?
THIS is why privacy matters. Big tech collects and sells all your data so they can use it against you. My model says your Mom is dying and you need to get there quick; oh man, you are gonna pay.
How long before someone finds a glitch that allows them to trick the A.I. Into letting them get free seats or book the entire plane, etc.
The Air Canada AI chatbot gave wrong policies to someone around bereavement flights, went to court, and Air Canada lost having to refund the ticket price difference.
They tried to claim they weren't responsible for the Ai.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/air-canada-chatbot-lawsuit-1.7116416
So at least in Canada we have some precedent that if their AI pricing fucks up, it's their own fault.