Klarna shifts to gig workforce for customer service amid AI integration

This follows Klarna's automation of customer service work equivalent to 800 full-time agents using artificial intelligence. The pilot aims to combine AI handling of routine queries with human agents for more complex issues.

The company had previously replaced a significant portion of its customer service workforce with an AI chatbot, which it said could handle the workload of 700 full-time agents. The new gig-based model will bring back some human support on a flexible, contract basis. Klarna has not disclosed the number of gig workers involved in the pilot or the specific terms of their contracts.

The gig pilot appears to be an attempt to balance efficiency gains from AI with the need for human oversight in complex customer interactions.