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Notes on AI customer service, and the work of doing it right.

Perspective on support automation, earned autonomy, and The Dividend Standard from the team building Celeste. Subscribe by RSS.

July 22, 2026

AI customer service, for the founder answering email at 11pm

The AI support headlines are all about big companies cutting teams. Most businesses are one overloaded owner. That story is different, and better.

small businessAI customer servicesupport automationearned autonomyAI agents
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July 16, 2026

AI is freezing the first rung. Support is where it starts.

Entry-level support jobs are vanishing through a quiet hiring freeze, not layoffs. The hidden cost is the institutional knowledge that rung used to produce.

AI and jobsAI customer serviceAI and the future of workThe Dividend Standardsupport automation
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July 14, 2026

The AI wealth debate is aimed at the wrong balance sheet

Taxing AI vendors captures a thin slice of what automation actually moves. The bigger pool sits with the buyers who pocket the saved salary.

AI and the economyAI and jobsThe Dividend Standardprofit sharingAI customer service
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July 14, 2026

Your AI's guardrails are probably just suggestions

The 2026 wave of AI agent failures has one root cause: safety rules written as prompt instructions the model can reason its way around. The fix is structural.

AI safetyAI customer serviceAI agentsguardrailssupport automation
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July 11, 2026

Why AI customer service should earn autonomy, not assume it

Most AI support tools go live on day one. We think that is backwards. Here is the case for letting an AI agent earn trust one topic at a time.

AI customer serviceautonomous supportAI safety
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July 11, 2026

Klarna cut 700 support jobs for AI, then hired humans back

Klarna replaced 700 support agents with AI, quality dropped, and it reversed course. The real lesson for AI customer service is earned autonomy.

AI customer serviceAI and jobssupport automationearned autonomy
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