Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most discussed technologies in today’s world. Bill Gates referred to AI as the “holy grail” in computer science (Tonner, 2016). Proponents of AI argue that it will transform the world and change our day-to-day lives. You probably already engaged with AI bots without really knowing. Think about the standard ‘Hi, how can I help you?’ message that appears when you use the customer chat of an online web shop.
It is predicted that AI will disrupt the customer service industry greatly. AI bots will power 85% of all customer service interactions by the year 2020 (Tonner, 2016). Several online retailers already use AI bots to enhance customer experience, because they can interact with humans, give faster and sometimes even more accurate responses than humans. Additionally, specialists try to teach the computers nuance and context that will make their interactions more human-like.
Currently, AI bots are good at answering simple questions that are not super nuanced. This can be of great help during holiday seasons, in this time of the year online shoppers tend to have short and easy questions about updates on orders, new products and return policies (Garcia, 2017).
On the other hand, we should not overlook the threats and difficulties that AI brings. Facebook has recently shut down AI projects because two chatbots started talking to each other in a language only they understood (Griffin, 2017). Moreover, what scares people the most is that AI has no fundamental limits to what can be achieved.
AI will deliver differentiated customer experiences, make operations smarter, uncover new revenue streams and reinvent business models (Leggett, 2017). The future for AI in the customer service industry is promising yet challenging. Is it possible that AI will fully replace human customer service in the near future? Looking at the rise of AI chatbots, it is not crazy to say that AI bots will soon help your relatives and friends choose your Christmas presents.
References:
Garcia, T. (2017, October 7). Artificial intelligence will be important this holiday shopping season even if shoppers don’t know it. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/artificial-intelligence-will-be-important-this-holiday-shopping-season-even-if-shoppers-dont-know-it-2017-10-05
Griffin, A. (2017, July 31). Facebook’s artificial intelligence robots shut down after they start talking to each other in their own language. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-artificial-intelligence-ai-chatbot-new-language-research-openai-google-a7869706.html
Leggett, K. (2017, July 27). AI Wil Fundamentally Transform Customer Service. Retrieved from https://go.forrester.com/blogs/ai-will-fundamentally-transform-customer-service/
Tonner, A. (2016, December 10). 9 Artificial Intelligence Stats That Will Blow You Away. Retrieved from https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/10/9-artificial-intelligence-stats-that-will-blow-you.aspx
