AI Judges Your Complaint by How You Write, Not What You Say
Your writing style could cost you money when AI decides your complaint.
When you file a complaint with a company, AI might soon decide your outcome. A new study tested three AI systems that resolve consumer financial complaints. They found that the same complaint, rewritten in different styles, sometimes got different decisions. The differences were small but consistent: older, college-educated, and higher-income writing styles received slightly more generous remedies.
At the individual level, two versions of the same complaint got different monetary decisions up to 6.3% of the time. That means if you write your complaint in a casual style, you might get less money than if you wrote it formally—even if the facts are identical. The study also found that rewriting all complaints into a standard style reduced some gaps but didn't fix everything.
The catch: The study only looked at financial complaints and specific AI models. The effects are small, but they show that AI isn't immune to human biases. As AI takes over more decisions, from insurance claims to loan approvals, we need to ensure it judges us on facts, not writing style.
- AI complaint systems can give different decisions based on writing style, not just facts.
- People with formal, educated writing styles got slightly better remedies.
- Rewriting complaints in a standard style helped but didn't fully fix the problem.
Why It Matters
Your writing style could affect your compensation when AI decides your complaint, so fairness matters.