May 26, 2026 6:00 AM

AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World

There’s a mad dash to automate the world’s most hated calls. Have an unpaid bill? You’ll hear from an AI debt collector sometime soon.

Photo Illustration of a Human Robot watching over multiple People

She introduced herself as Eve, but Ben knew right away that the voice on the other end of the line was a bot. Eve knew his name. She also knew how much money he’d owed a former landlord ($266). She didn’t seem to know that he’d settled with a collection agency five months prior. Eve said she was an AI agent from ProCollect and was calling to collect a debt. “Would you like to resolve it today by card or bank transfer?” she asked.

This article is exclusive to subscribers.

Start your free trial and plug in to the future of tech.

START YOUR FREE TRIAL

Already a subscriber? Sign In

This article is exclusive to subscribers. START FREE TRIAL

Comments

There aren’t any comments yet.

Be the first to start the conversation!
You need an account to add or like comments.

Continue Your AI Education

Take This Mandatory AI Workplace Training—or Else
Meet the Sad Wives of AI
Can Normies Really Vibe Code?
Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AI
A WIRED Fact-Checker Fact-Checks AI
How AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into Chaos
In your inbox: Will Knight’s AI Lab explores advances in AI

Kate Knibbs is a senior writer at WIRED. She covers prediction markets, the future of media, and how AI is changing the internet. She’s also interested in digital grey markets and regulatory battles over new tech. She is based in Chicago. Send tips to kate_knibbs@wired.com, or reach her on Signal ... Read More

Senior Writer

Topicslongreads AI Panic artificial intelligence Finance money

7 Ways to Get So Good at AI, People Will Think You Are AI

From killing your chatbots to optimizing your prompts, here are the best ways to go full AI native and conquer the new world.

Reece Rogers

The US Is Using AI to Hunt Down Insider Trading on Polymarket

CFTC chairman Michael Selig sat down with WIRED to discuss how the agency scours Polymarket and other prediction markets for illegal activity.

Kate Knibbs

Overworked AI Agents Turn Marxist, Researchers Find

In a recent experiment, mistreated AI agents started grumbling about inequality and calling for collective bargaining rights.

Will Knight

AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into Chaos. Here’s Exactly How That Happened

The definitive story of how Claude Code and OpenClaw kicked off computing’s biggest transformation possibly ever.

Steven Levy

Former OpenAI Staffers Warn That xAI’s Poor Safety Record Could Complicate SpaceX’s IPO

The ex-employees, who cofounded a new AI watchdog group, say investors deserve more information about xAI’s safety practices before SpaceX goes public.

Maxwell Zeff

I Am Begging AI Companies to Stop Naming Features After Human Processes

Anthropic announced “dreaming” for AI agents to sort through “memories” at its developer conference. Can we not?

Reece Rogers

How Shivon Zilis Operated as Elon Musk’s OpenAI Insider

Messages presented at trial reveal how Zilis, the mother of four of Musk’s children, acted as an intermediary between him and OpenAI.

Maxwell Zeff

Greg Brockman Defends $30B OpenAI Stake: ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’

OpenAI’s cofounder and president revealed in federal court on Monday that he’s one of the largest individual stakeholders in the AI lab.

Maxwell Zeff

Comments

Continue Your AI Education

Get The Big Story in Your Inbox