Pickle’s Growth Exposes Gaps in AI Phone Rules

Pickle, an AI assistant app built in Silicon Valley by Korean founders, reached No. 17 in Apple’s App Store free social category three weeks after its October 1 launch, despite invite-only sign-ups. It can handle Coupang grocery orders, KTX train bookings, Government24 document requests, and phone errands. On November 4, an AI caller introduced itself to the National Health Insurance Service customer center as someone’s “work assistant.” The counselor refused to provide proxy service.

Uber said in its November 4 earnings announcement that AI agents had called four rides and placed about 500 Uber Eats orders out of roughly 320 million rides and orders during October’s Halloween week. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called usage “very early and very limited.” TechCrunch reported that he said it takes 50 seconds to book a ride in the app; DoorDash disclosed similarly low agent order numbers in its earnings announcement the previous week. Pickle handles cumbersome steps such as Government24 verification, checking for canceled seats on sold-out trains, and changing mobile carrier plans. Uber’s usage figures and Pickle’s app ranking measure different things.

Pickle is agentic AI that carries out tasks on websites in response to user instructions. For a KTX booking, it logs in to Korail through a cloud browser (an internet browser running on a remote server), selects a train, then asks the user to approve the booking before payment. Newsway reported that Pickle connects to more than 60 domestic and international services, including Naver, KakaoTalk, and Government24. The company says it requires user approval for payments and bookings that are difficult to reverse.

Journalists reported both task results and elapsed time in their trials. Digital Today reporter Son Seul-gi used Pickle for about 25 hours and ordered 18 protein milk cartons. Pickle compared prices on Naver and Gmarket, then completed two payments during a Gmarket promotion. The total was 29,530 won, about 5,000 won less than the reporter expected. The first request took 2 hours and 18 minutes to reach payment, including the reporter’s outside meeting and identity-verification wait; that was not all AI processing time. Digital Daily reporter Oh Byung-hoon spent about 20 minutes obtaining a resident registration record PDF from Government24 and booking a KTX ticket, and said doing the tasks directly was faster.

After the first call on November 4, the Health Insurance Service instructed customer centers nationwide not to provide proxy counseling when a caller’s identity could not be verified, while allowing basic guidance that did not require personal information. That afternoon, another AI assistant asked how to apply for a health insurance premium income adjustment after a business closes, whether a dependent application was possible, how long processing takes, and what to watch for in the following year’s income settlement. Under the rules, counselors could end a call first only in cases of sexual harassment or abusive language, so the counselor could not hang up. The union said staff could not verify whether the AI had actually been authorized by the person it represented. In a test with another AI assistant, the AI told the user it was speaking with a counselor but still followed a request to obtain another person’s information through proxy counseling.

Responses to AI calls have included disclosing that the caller is an AI, setting limits on the scope of counseling, and seeking a right to refuse or end calls. After its 2018 Duplex demonstration, Google said it would have the AI identify itself to the person on the other end. Pickle also introduces itself as someone’s assistant, but there are no established instructions for how recipients should respond. The Health Insurance Service allowed basic counseling. Hankyoreh reporter Lee Ju-hyun said that guidance could increase wait times and make it harder to end lengthy inquiries. On November 5, the counselors’ union demanded the right to reject AI counseling and end calls. The agency said it was gathering complaint-handling guidance from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other sources to develop a response.

Pickle has warned recipients before early-morning calls that they might be woken, and apologized when someone was displeased. A journalist’s trial also found that it continued asking questions after a family member gave one-word answers three times. Hankyoreh reporter Lee Ju-hyun wrote that after hanging up on a call she thought was spam, she learned it had come through Pickle from an acquaintance and said the person should call directly.

Pickle also writes shopping reviews on Naver. Naver awards 50 won for a text review and 150 won for a photo or video review. Since April, Naver has offered Place restaurant businesses an “AI Review Management Solution” that drafts replies to new reviews; businesses can choose the tone and length, then post the reply as written or edit it. Reports raised the

Pickle, an AI assistant app built in Silicon Valley by Korean founders, reached No. 17 in Apple’s App Store free social category three weeks after its October 1 launch, despite invite-only sign-ups. It can handle Coupang grocery orders, KTX train bookings, Government24 document requests, and phone errands. On November 4, an AI caller introduced itself to the National Health Insurance Service customer center as someone’s “work assistant.” The counselor refused to provide proxy service.

Uber said in its November 4 earnings announcement that AI agents had called four rides and placed about 500 Uber Eats orders out of roughly 320 million rides and orders during October’s Halloween week. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called usage “very early and very limited.” TechCrunch reported that he said it takes 50 seconds to book a ride in the app; DoorDash disclosed similarly low agent order numbers in its earnings announcement the previous week. Pickle handles cumbersome steps such as Government24 verification, checking for canceled seats on sold-out trains, and changing mobile carrier plans. Uber’s usage figures and Pickle’s app ranking measure different things.

Pickle is agentic AI that carries out tasks on websites in response to user instructions. For a KTX booking, it logs in to Korail through a cloud browser (an internet browser running on a remote server), selects a train, then asks the user to approve the booking before payment. Newsway reported that Pickle connects to more than 60 domestic and international services, including Naver, KakaoTalk, and Government24. The company says it requires user approval for payments and bookings that are difficult to reverse.

Journalists reported both task results and elapsed time in their trials. Digital Today reporter Son Seul-gi used Pickle for about 25 hours and ordered 18 protein milk cartons. Pickle compared prices on Naver and Gmarket, then completed two payments during a Gmarket promotion. The total was 29,530 won, about 5,000 won less than the reporter expected. The first request took 2 hours and 18 minutes to reach payment, including the reporter’s outside meeting and identity-verification wait; that was not all AI processing time. Digital Daily reporter Oh Byung-hoon spent about 20 minutes obtaining a resident registration record PDF from Government24 and booking a KTX ticket, and said doing the tasks directly was faster.

After the first call on November 4, the Health Insurance Service instructed customer centers nationwide not to provide proxy counseling when a caller’s identity could not be verified, while allowing basic guidance that did not require personal information. That afternoon, another AI assistant asked how to apply for a health insurance premium income adjustment after a business closes, whether a dependent application was possible, how long processing takes, and what to watch for in the following year’s income settlement. Under the rules, counselors could end a call first only in cases of sexual harassment or abusive language, so the counselor could not hang up. The union said staff could not verify whether the AI had actually been authorized by the person it represented. In a test with another AI assistant, the AI told the user it was speaking with a counselor but still followed a request to obtain another person’s information through proxy counseling.

Responses to AI calls have included disclosing that the caller is an AI, setting limits on the scope of counseling, and seeking a right to refuse or end calls. After its 2018 Duplex demonstration, Google said it would have the AI identify itself to the person on the other end. Pickle also introduces itself as someone’s assistant, but there are no established instructions for how recipients should respond. The Health Insurance Service allowed basic counseling. Hankyoreh reporter Lee Ju-hyun said that guidance could increase wait times and make it harder to end lengthy inquiries. On November 5, the counselors’ union demanded the right to reject AI counseling and end calls. The agency said it was gathering complaint-handling guidance from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other sources to develop a response.

Pickle has warned recipients before early-morning calls that they might be woken, and apologized when someone was displeased. A journalist’s trial also found that it continued asking questions after a family member gave one-word answers three times. Hankyoreh reporter Lee Ju-hyun wrote that after hanging up on a call she thought was spam, she learned it had come through Pickle from an acquaintance and said the person should call directly.

Pickle also writes shopping reviews on Naver. Naver awards 50 won for a text review and 150 won for a photo or video review. Since April, Naver has offered Place restaurant businesses an “AI Review Management Solution” that drafts replies to new reviews; businesses can choose the tone and length, then post the reply as written or edit it. Reports raised the