--- title: "Cursed New AI Calls Debtors to Hassle Them for Money" description: "The rise of AI coincides with all-time debt highs — and one startup is cashing in by having AI robocalls do way more collections than humans." date: "2023-05-21" modified: "2023-05-30" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-debt-collection-robocalls" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai chatbots" - "fintech" - "robocalls" - "the digest" --- # Cursed New AI Calls Debtors to Hassle Them for Money ![The rise of AI coincides with all-time debt highs — and one startup is cashing in by having AI robocalls do way more collections than humans.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## For Debt About It The rise of AI coincides with [all-time debt highs]() — and one startup is looking use an AI-powered goon to shake folks down for cash faster than a human debt collector ever could. As [*Vice* reports](), an outfit called Skit.AI is looking to usher in a "[new era of debt collections]()" with an AI-powered voice agent that does just that, making millions of outbound collections calls a week. A sort of machine learning answer to robocalling, Skit and [its competitors]() offer, in essence, the same basic promise that all other companies jumping on the AI bandwagon claim to provide: the ability to do more menial tasks than humans, more efficiently and at a significantly cheaper cost. "It is hard to find a skilled collector, and having a consistent team that can scale up when needed has been extremely challenging," a barf-worthy Skit blog post reads. "But instant scalability with Digital Collection Agents, the dependence on human collectors goes down substantially. The end-to-end automation of many calls means that human agents are no longer required to do those calls. So a collector can manage a larger portfolio with a smaller or the same team of agents." ## Insult to Injury In reality, of course, the still-experimental nature of chatbots means that these sorts of AI-based services are basically being beta tested in real-time, often [resulting in failure]() or being [regulated out of existence](). As Timnit Gebru of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) told *Vice*, there's an additional layer of sleaze with AI debt collection given the nature of the business this software is meant to disrupt. "We know that there are so many biases that these \[large language model\]-based systems have, encoding hegemonic and stereotypical views," Gebru said, pointing to a [2021 paper on the topic]() she coauthored. "The fact that we don't even know what they're doing and they're not required to tell us is also incredibly concerning." Debt collection has been demonstrated to target Black communities [at greater rates]() than their white counterparts, *Vice* notes, and debt itself arguably [mires people in poverty](). Adding AI into that mix brings a whole different level of myopia to an [already-disgusting business](), and anyone who's ever been on the other end of a debtor's call knows that this is the last thing one wants or needs when placed in that situation. **More on chatbot dystopia:** [*CNET Staff Unionize, Saying AI Use "Threatens Our Jobs and Reputations"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()