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Comment by runeks | Hacker News Reader

> The total amount due on the bill is $83.89. Please verify this amount with your utility provider or by using Text Detection before making a payment.

1. Use AI to determine how much a bill is for

2. Call up the people who billed you and ask them how much they billed you

3. Pay billed amount

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It’s still useful to get the information instantly and verify it later. Arguably asking someone you trust to read the number for you might be a better idea than calling the company. Not everybody has that option though.

And not everybody wants to use that option all the time. Asking a human makes you feel dependent more than using a tool does.

Aaaand the logistics of making that call to the company to confirm the amount on the bill can get awkward. IVR and hold-time hell just to get a human to have to explain your predicament as to why you're asking for such a mundane piece of information that was in fifty other touchpoints that you couldn't access as quickly or easily.

(I'm also picturing the poor CSR at the other end of the phone wading through hundreds and hundreds of call logs over the years for simple requests and managers up above screaming 'why is this guy calling us all the damn time costing us money'...)

Once you paid the same bill for a few months you'll know how much your phone bill will roughly be and you'll not have to do. They obviously have to put that line in there, just like ChatGPT saying "Please verify everything we tell you" in the footer.

I presume that calling customer support is at least as frustrating for people with disabilities as it is for anyone.

It might be useful if it remembered a bill for, say, 60 days, and could also comment on percent difference since the last one. "The total amount due on the bill is $83.89 which is 4% higher than last month's bill from the same company."

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