A New York City apartment owner’s washing machine and dryer were fixed after she used ChatGPT to write an encouraging letter to her landlord. The washing machine and dryer had been out for 2 years and 28-year-old Svetlana was annoyed with this issue for quite a while.
Svetlana, who did not wish to reveal her last name, send a legally charged letter drafted by the chatbot to her landlord. She claimed that the bot was ‘super-smart’ after quoting specific sections of New York rent law to back its case.
She said: ‘That’s the beauty of ChatGPT; the ability to collaborate, bounce ideas, put thoughts into a cohesive piece of writing. ‘It’s like a super-smart, objective, real-time sounding board.’
The issue with her landlord started after receiving a rent increase notice of 0.4 percent, from $1,389 to $1,395 (£1116 to £1121) which ironically came only days after she had filed for a rent decrease.
She had written numerous complaints to her landlord about her dryer and washing machine that had been out of order for more than two years but no action had taken place. Finally, she asked the AI chatbot to act like a housing lawyer and draft an email opposing the surprising rent increase and reconveying her issues regarding the broken appliances.
And surprisingly, this was attempt was very successful after the landlord fixed the appliances within the month. ‘The rent increase alone was not my gripe,’ Svetlana said. ‘It was the audacity to increase the rent, seemingly in retaliation after I filed a complaint and request for a rent decrease on the basis of decreased building-wide services.’
ChatGPT took into account sections of the New York rent stabilization code and posited that the rent increase was retaliatory, as she had recently filed a request for a decrease.
She continued: ‘My goal was to have the laundry machines repaired, and thankfully they were fixed that month after years of being out of order. It took a couple of attempts to get it perfect.’
‘I prompted ChatGPT to add more legalese. I never received an official response from my landlord, there was a sign posted in my building announcing that the laundry rooms were back in service.’
As an executive assistant, Svetlana already uses artificial intelligence for work but is now considering its use to resolve other legal battles.
She said: ‘It’s definitely reinforced my faith in the, what feels to be, limitless future of AI.’
‘We’re living in super fun times and it’s clear that we’re only just scratching the surface of what’s possible. I’ve thought about issuing a scary legal letter to my neighbors who frequently chain smoke indoors. Their smoke seeps into my apartment and it becomes overwhelming for me. Have decided against it for now. But I use ChatGPT every day, for work and for fun, and even just seeking objective opinions on literally anything.’
