Cautionary tale: why a $17/month reply drafter got switched off
Problem
The aiku team wanted a suggested reply drafted for every customer chat message.
Agent / tool
A chain of writer agents with a critic, examples from past replies, rules learned from years of email, and a gate that hid weak drafts, costing $17 a month.
Outcome
Drafts matched what staff actually sent only about 16% of the time, against a 60% goal, and staff used or edited just 5 to 11% of them. The team is switching it off under a kill rule they agreed on before starting. Their lesson is that one-shot drafting from facts picked in advance doesn't work, and the agent has to look things up for each message.