I whole-heartedly believe in free markets, but at the same time, fuck everything about the circus clown show that is modern techno-capitalism.
This is where incrementally making markets more and more "free" gets us.
Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
41–50 of 136 posts
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#42Either Klarna is really good at pulling strings to get media coverage, or mainstream media does not fact checking themselves. About a year ago, the company was everywhere in the media when its CEO announced that it created an AI bot that is doing the equivalent of 700 fulltime customer service folks. I did what seemingly no other publication reporting on it did: signed up for Klarna, bought one item and used this bot…
Glen Okun of NYU business school has written about BNPL loan portfolio weakness. The AI marketing is just an attempt to reframe the value narrative of the company before IPO. They would rather be seen as an AI company than an unsecured lender of last resort. The narrative on Klarna’s core business is not good in any case, either an extractive lender benefiting from people buying what they may not afford and charging…
If you default on your Klarna loan, you could pay them back in support hours:
> The pilot has started small, with two of the new breed of customer-service agents live now, but the ambition is to tap into candidates such as students or rural populations. “We also know there are tons of Klarna users that are very passionate about our company and would enjoy working for us,” he added.
[from the bloomberg article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-08/klarna-tu...]
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#43Either Klarna is really good at pulling strings to get media coverage, or mainstream media does not fact checking themselves. About a year ago, the company was everywhere in the media when its CEO announced that it created an AI bot that is doing the equivalent of 700 fulltime customer service folks. I did what seemingly no other publication reporting on it did: signed up for Klarna, bought one item and used this bot…
I think this is in the broader context of Klarna CEO claiming he had stopped hiring for almost a year because of AI. It was a big talking point for a lot of CEOs and LinkedIn influencers. Big enough that incompetent management across the industry was following Klarna’s steps and reducing staffing (Not because AI, but because they could short staff teams with AI as an excuse). That is why when there is a clear evidence that Klarna was completely wrong, it needs to be talked about.
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42432494
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
They are scum, and currently are suffering from increased scrutiny from governments for pushing their buy-now-pay-later exploitative business everywhere. In the Netherlands they are even attempting to gain access to brick-and-mortar stores by partnering with Adyen¹ which provides the payment solutions, but the government is being vocal about that being unwanted. This is in addition to the unabating coverage in the me…
Shopkeepers do want it, because it expands their market from those with funds to also those without. Klarna carries the lending risks, for the shopkeeps it’s a risk-free customer base
that's the short term, if everyone starts to default, something is going to break and come back to the shop keeper.
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
They are scum, and currently are suffering from increased scrutiny from governments for pushing their buy-now-pay-later exploitative business everywhere. In the Netherlands they are even attempting to gain access to brick-and-mortar stores by partnering with Adyen¹ which provides the payment solutions, but the government is being vocal about that being unwanted. This is in addition to the unabating coverage in the me…
Shopkeepers do want it, because it expands their market from those with funds to also those without. Klarna carries the lending risks, for the shopkeeps it’s a risk-free customer base
In the Netherlands no less than twenty trade associations sent letters to the government on behalf of their shopkeeper members urging legal action to prevent Klarna from coming. Part of it is that Klarna is fairly expensive compared to the common payment methods (i.e., cash and debit cards). Klarna charges a whopping 4% of the purchase price, whereas using a debit card (perhaps 95% of payments in physical shops) costs a fixed 17 euro cents, and cash costs just the costs of keeping it around safely and getting it to the bank.
But there is also the realisation that a customer who uses BNPL today, won't be coming back next month when they are paying off their loan.
Dutch shopkeepers do not want Klarna, but if major chains like Primark etc. do it, they fear customers will start expecting it.
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
They are scum, and currently are suffering from increased scrutiny from governments for pushing their buy-now-pay-later exploitative business everywhere. In the Netherlands they are even attempting to gain access to brick-and-mortar stores by partnering with Adyen¹ which provides the payment solutions, but the government is being vocal about that being unwanted. This is in addition to the unabating coverage in the me…
Shopkeepers do want it, because it expands their market from those with funds to also those without. Klarna carries the lending risks, for the shopkeeps it’s a risk-free customer base
They might say they want it, but like a wise parent guiding the BNPL spending habits of a teenager, government is right to step in and stop shopkeepers from seeking to cheese their way through business (only in the short term) by relying on a fickle and unsustainable base of new creditors.
Putting a new group of people into predatory debt is a nice way to juice your numbers before you dump your shares, but it's not a good way to sustain an economy focused on producing real value.
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#47I whole-heartedly believe in free markets, but at the same time, fuck everything about the circus clown show that is modern techno-capitalism.
Go hack and read Marx and Engels, and also study Ned Ludd and Luddism/luddites.
There is NOTHING special about current technology in application of capitalism. Its always been exploitive, and grinds people into used and nearly dead objects.
The answer isn't reforming capitalism, either. FDR tried, and we're back to the Black Friday set of events... But in this case, we're even worse off with alienation of basically every country as some sort of oneupmanship.
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#48Even here people don’t seem to realize, or even consider the likely fact that Klarna CEO has been bullsh**ing all along. I read a hugely viral post of them replacing their entire CRM with AI. It’s ridiculous to me people took that seriously!
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Again, so? The grocery store on my block is beneficially owned by a Belgian and Dutch corporation which feels no compunction in union-busting. What stops a Swede from similarly parasitizing my local economy?
You seem to be arguing the same point? There’s nothing here unique to Americans or America.
If that's not the claim "Klarna is Swedish" was meant to (though fails to) counter, then I fail to understand why bring it up at all.
Re: Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service
#50[deleted]