Customer service
How AI assistants are revolutionizing customer service in enterprise businesses
At least 45% of customers are glad to use AI-based chat bots for customer support. Indeed, AI has impressive conversational skills and is poised to take over customer support. However, AI-based chat bots still cannot do everything that human support can do. Here is an overview of the strengths and limitations of AI customer service compared to human support.
More and more companies are investing in AI-based customer services because of the technology’s undeniable benefits compared to human operators. Some of the most notable benefits include:
Customers hate waiting in line for help. However, companies with a large customer base would need an army of human operators to respond to every query instantly.
AI-based chat bots provide instant responses to customers’ queries. They also avoid unnecessary inquiries (and save time) by providing the best answer based on the customers’ questions. More importantly, one AI-based algorithm can handle queries by multiple customers simultaneously – and without taking up as much resources as an army of human operators.
Your customers need to be able to reach you at any time. This is especially important for multinational companies with customers from different time zones. Human operators need time off work every day to rest and cater to their personal lives.
However, AI-based algorithms can operate 24-7 without downtime. The algorithm doesn’t need to rest and will not complain (or intentionally reduce its productivity) of working non-stop.
At least 45% of customers don’t mind interacting with AI-based chatbots for customer service. Many prefer AI because it is fast and direct, so they don’t have to wait in line or explain the same thing multiple times. Additionally, these chatbots offer direct and effective solutions to simple and common queries – some are advanced enough to handle complex queries.
Consequently, an efficient AI chatbot can deliver a relatively good (or better) customer experience compared to human operators. Good customer experience helps nurture customer loyalty and other invaluable qualities.
It would take an army of human operators to handle every customer query instantly, as mentioned. It would also take a lot of money (and resources such as space and stationery) to maintain this army of customer service operators.
However, running and maintaining a virtual contact center assistant costs a fraction of the cost of employing human operators. This is one of the main motivators for businesses adopting AI-based customer service.
AI technology has made significant development in the recent past. However, it still cannot match human customer service operators when it comes to fundamental issues such as in-depth interaction with customers. Two of its most notable shortcomings include:
Human interaction involves emotions and other signals that AI algorithms cannot read or understand. Some of the most advanced AI bots can recognize human sentiment, but they still cannot fully understand human emotions. Consequently, customers dealing with emotions such as anger and sadness will find AI-based chatbots irritating.
AI-based chatbots require access to the company’s vast databases to solve customers’ queries. Additionally, these algorithms usually collect customers’ data as they go. Data privacy is a sensitive issue among many customers, and some may feel that AI chatbots are invading their privacy. This can compromise the customers’ goodwill and make the company vulnerable to lawsuits.
Artificial Intelligence is developing at an incredible pace, and AI-powered robots are becoming more human-like over time. Indeed, AI-based chatbots are the future of customer service. Get in touch to learn what a virtual contact center assistant can do for you.
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