“There was once a chatbot called DPD who was useless at providing help,” the chatbot wrote about itself after a customer named Ashley Beauchamp asked it to write a poem about its own poor service.

Beauchamp, a pianist and conductor, posted his exchange with the chatbot on social media platform X on Thursday, where it has since been viewed 1.1 million times.

He said he initially asked the chatbot to tell him a joke after not receiving information about the status of his package. When he did receive the information, he asked it to write a poem about the automated customer service error. He also encouraged the bot to swear.

Beauchamp told ITV he had yet to receive the parcel. "I think they might be holding it hostage now. I wouldn't blame them," he said.

DPD said it had been successfully using AI in its chat system for years, but the error occurred after a system update. “The AI ​​service was immediately disabled and is currently being updated again,” the company said in a statement.

Hoang Hai (according to Reuters, ITV)