Recently, I proposed that there’s nothing artificial about AI. Tim Banting of OMDIA was a presenter during a webinar about AI and the customer experience, during which he took a similar position. Banting said that AI is not “artificial” intelligence, but rather “augmented” intelligence. AI certainly has the potential to augment or improve human productivity and effectiveness. According to an Asana report, the average knowledge worker devotes 40% of their time to producing work. The other 60% of their time is spent scheduling meetings, searching for documents, communicating about tasks, and shifting priorities. AI can easily perform these time-consuming yet low-value tasks.
According to OMIDA, 44% of AI use cases are focused on customer experience, text analytics, chatbots, and virtual assistants. Conversational and generative AI, if trained well, can greatly assist human customer support teams, and provide an excellent customer experience. Nearly half of all customer support inquiries are considered “Level 1” calls, which do not require deep knowledge or expertise to resolve. If AI handles the Level 1 calls, then humans can spend more time focusing on the more unique or complex issues, providing overall higher-quality service.
AI can also process sentiment and engagement scoring based on, among other data points, truth/accuracy and empathy. Over time the virtual assistants offer enhanced Level 1 support and seamlessly escalate calls to humans. AI can also create efficiencies in the workplace by translating and summarizing calls and meetings.
Currently, industries, such as financial services, retail, and healthcare are among the early adopters of AI for customer experience augmentation. Others seem to be playing catch up. Deloitte Digital indicates 75% of contact centers plan to invest in CCaaS (Call Center as a Service with some type of AI). Is this good for business or consumers? How might this affect jobs?
Gartner reports that by 2026, conversational AI deployments with contact centers will reduce agent labor costs by $80 billion. The pessimist will obviously see this as the continuation of dehumanization of the workforce. Optimists believe the increase in AI (Augmented Intelligence) will not replace humans, but rather elevate the workforce. Humans will be able to focus on more creative and high-value tasks.
The road of progress is paved with good intentions, but there are always unintended consequences that create major potholes along the way. Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
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