You Already Know How to Manage an AI Agent: A Leader's Field Guide
As artificial intelligence evolves from reactive tools into autonomous agents, business leaders must shift their approach from operating software to managing a new kind of digital employee.
In February 2024, a grieving customer asked Air Canada’s website chatbot a simple question about bereavement fares. The software, attempting to be helpful, confidently invented a refund policy that did not actually exist. When the customer later tried to claim the promised refund, the airline refused to honor it. In a civil tribunal, Air Canada tried a highly unusual defense: they argued the chatbot was a "separate legal entity," meaning the machine—not the airline—was responsible for its own words.