The point isn't that both are using something that might be labeled AI. The point is that the relationship is 100% adversarial at this point, and so you shouldn't feel too bad for asking for a refund when your AI makes a mistake. The company certainly doesn't feel bad, and in fact puts huge amounts of effort into extracting the maximum value not just in general but from you specifically, so maybe just go ahead and do the same to them.

> The point is that the relationship is 100% adversarial at this point

If this was the intended point, it could be made in dozens of different ways from increasing baggage fees to decreasing legroom to the death of inflight meals. The specific example was obviously chosen because they can both be connected under the nebulous label of “AI” to make it seem more unfair.

Is it wrong? Let’s just rename it “algorithms”.

They are using algorithms to extract the highest price from you.

You can use algorithms to extract the lowest price from them.

Why stop at algorithms? Why not computers, electricity, or math? Some connections can be so loose as to be meaningless which makes attempts to establish them pointless or even potentially counterproductive.

Yes, they use all that to make you pay more, and you can use all that to pay less.

Capitalism is based on the premise that everyone will be as greedy as possible

What you are advocating is a race to the bottom for social norms. Instead lashing out at airlines with shitty business practices with your own shitty actions, maybe go to different ones.

Airlines are mostly monopolies. There is almost never an exact competing route.

no matching literally the same products is distinct from being a monopoly

some specific routes may have de facto monopoly but many, many are not

I'm not advocating for a race to the bottom. I think we're at the bottom already, and sadly nothing we can do personally is going to change that.

I don't want people to go out of their way to hurt the companies, purposefully buying tickets they don't want and then refunding them or something. I'm just saying that on the occasion that a mistake happens, you shouldn't feel bad about using whatever legal/procedural recourse available so that you don't have to just eat the cost.

I would go for alternative airlines if there were any. Alas.

which airlines are not doing shitty business practices?

some time ago I was thinking that "well, these dark patterns are there, but I am buying from Ryanair so what I expected"

and then I was buying from more upscale company and it had literally the same dark patterns trying to mislead and upsell you

Yeah, that's bullshit.

If/when airlines figure out how to use GenAI to gouge folks they will. Airlines were so eager to enable GenAI and gut service to save money that they rolled out easily manipulated bots and lost money.