Once a simple matter of "bumpers are for bumping," as my friend used to say while navigating tight parking spots, today's reality has shifted dramatically. Now, companies like Hertz are harnessing artificial intelligence to scrutinize returned rental cars for damages that might escape the human eye.

At airport locations, Hertz employs a system called UVeye, which operates much like an automated car wash entrance but serves a different purpose. Instead of cleaning, it floods the vehicle with light that detects even the most minor imperfections, invisible under normal conditions. This has led to a surge in customers being automatically billed for purported damages — some trivial, some non-existent, and some possibly already there before the rental period commenced.

The challenge for customers doesn't end at the unwelcome charges. Contesting these fees often requires Herculean patience and a good dose of luck, as reaching a human capable of resolving these issues can be daunting.

This trend is not isolated to car rentals. Similar scenarios unfold in other sectors, like a disturbing incident involving a London-based academic who rented an apartment in Manhattan through Airbnb. She was shocked to find herself billed for over $15,000 in damages upon her return home. The pictures provided by the host, allegedly showing the damage, appeared inconsistent and possibly altered by AI. After strenuous interactions with customer service, Airbnb dropped the charges and refunded her stay, issuing a warning to the host.

As AI technology becomes more accessible and affordable, it seems businesses are leveraging it not just for efficiency but to shift the balance of power decidedly in their favor. This raises ethical questions, especially when AI is used to generate evidence against customers who have no way of verifying or contesting the claims once they've returned the rented property or vehicle.

Moreover, the introduction of AI in such roles does little to enhance customer experience, focusing instead on maximizing company profits at the potential expense of consumer trust and satisfaction. While the technology may indeed spot genuine issues that should be addressed, charging customers for negligible 'damages' detected by AI, which no human could spot, seems both unjust and commercially short-sighted.

As more companies consider integrating similar technologies, one must wonder if the pursuit of profit over fairness might eventually backfire. In the era of customer-centric business models, alienating customers with AI that acts as judge, jury, and executioner could be a risky strategy.

In sum, while AI has the potential to transform business operations, its application in customer relations, particularly in damage assessment and billing, needs careful consideration and ethical guidelines. Otherwise, we risk entering a dystopian scenario where technology, rather than improving human lives, complicates them under the guise of efficiency and precision.