Business

AI makes customer service cooler but still needs the human touch

Have you recently called in for customer service for a product to be surprised by a human like AI voice? Pleasant, life like, and efficient, the AI agent takes the right amount of pauses, inflects the speech in the right places, and more importantly, is patient. If you haven’t tried one, just check out this ad Bland AI put up.

AI chatbots are all the rage now, and it seems the future is bright for these artificial agents. There is no industry it isn’t into, be it retail, finance, healthcare, or hospitality.

For example, Bank of America introduced its AI-driven virtual assistant, Erica, which has proven to be a game-changer in customer service. Erica can help customers check balances, monitor credit scores, and provide personalized financial advice. Then, Delta Air Lines employs AI to predict potential flight delays and proactively communicate with passengers.

Does this mean AI agents are better than human ones? In certain ways, yes, but that’s not the full story.

While it is a revenue generating technology for such companies, the deployment must be strategic. And removing humans completely from the picture will not work. At least, not yet. Instead, if AI is integrated along with human agents, where the AI assists the agent work better and faster, it can be a win-win

While it is a revenue generating technology for such companies, the deployment must be strategic. And removing humans completely from the picture will not work. At least, not yet. Instead, if AI is integrated along with human agents, where the AI assists the agent work better and faster, it can be a win-win.

Are AI Agents Perfect?

Far from it. Customer service chatbots often get their business into trouble. In April, a Bloomberg report about the World Health Organization (WHO) deploying a health chatbot, who kept hallucinating. In February, according to Wired, Air Canada was forced to give a customer a refund because of a policy its chatbot had made up.

These are cautionary tales of why it’s not always a good idea to use AI chatbots, and why we can’t leave them on their own yet. AI still has a lot to learn, it still needs humans.

But is the end customer really happy chatting with an AI agent?

According to a survey by Cogito, over half (53%) of consumers preferred to chat with a human agent on the telephone when the customer service questions or issues are complicated, while 17% said they would opt for technology such as live chat through a website or mobile app.

Also, in the realm of interacting with AI for customer service inquiries, almost half (46%) of the consumers surveyed said they favoured talking to a human but don’t mind if the agent uses AI in the background to enhance the interaction.

What Businesses Benefit by Integrating AI in Customer Service

Companies from all industries are rushing in to adopt AI agents to deal with customers with the aim of cutting costs, saving time, and last but not the least, looking cool. According to a study by metrigy, almost half of 697 companies surveyed on AI readiness said they are already using AI for customer interactions, while an additional 33% aim to start this year. In fact, 38% said 2024 is the year “that will be the turning point for them on acceptance for customer engagements.”

While this is good news for Gen AI companies, the news looks grim for current customer service reps. While it’s inevitable that AI will open up new jobs, some distress cannot be avoided.

Why are businesses rushing in to integrate AI agents in customer-service? Ruban Phukan, Co-founder and CEO of GoodGist, an upskilling organization that innovates with AI and autonomous learning, told The Tech Panda the reason is AI’s ability to enhance interaction, personalization, and efficiency.

AI-powered chatbots, personalized recommendation systems, and automated service platforms improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and decision-making. These technologies enable sectors to meet the growing expectations for instant, tailored, and accessible services, thereby enhancing competitive advantage and customer satisfaction
Ruban Phukan, Co-founder and CEO of GoodGist

“AI-powered chatbots, personalized recommendation systems, and automated service platforms improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and decision-making. These technologies enable sectors to meet the growing expectations for instant, tailored, and accessible services, thereby enhancing competitive advantage and customer satisfaction,” he says.

AI’s influence extends beyond B2C to even B2B environments, where AI-led support systems redefine customer service and operational efficiency. For example, Appalachian Regional Healthcare used AI developed by Qlik to predict patient appointment no-shows, realizing US$6 million in cost savings over two years across 15 clinics by proactively engaging at-risk patients.

“AI facilitates immediate responses to client inquiries about enterprise products or services, enabling businesses to deliver superior service level agreements (SLAs),” Phukan adds.

Additionally, navigating through extensive product manuals and documentation has traditionally been a time-consuming challenge. AI technologies now empower users to simply ask questions and receive instant answers, streamlining the process and significantly boosting productivity.

“This integration of AI into both B2C and B2B sectors not only improves customer experience and operational efficiency but also opens up a myriad of possibilities. From automating mundane tasks to extracting and synthesizing complex information quickly, AI is setting a new standard for how businesses operate and interact with their clients,” he explains.

All good points in favour of AI. But why is it that only the customer service sector is so keen on this technology?

AI Shines in Low Risk Areas

The customer service sector is an area that has the lowest risk from making a change, Ranjit Tanaikar, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Ness Digital Engineering, a lifecycle digital engineering firm offering digital advisory through scaled engineering services, told The Tech Panda.

When you call a call centre, there’s about 30 questions people ask, and those can be easily automated. The risk is not high if you get it wrong. This is not like managing an airplane, it is relatively routinized and low risk
Ranjit Tanaikar, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Ness Digital Engineering

“When you call a call centre, there’s about 30 questions people ask, and those can be easily automated. The risk is not high if you get it wrong. This is not like managing an airplane, it is relatively routinized and low risk,” he says.

Customer facing activities are fairly routine, and hence much easier to automate. Also, when a customer calls, more than 50% of queries are basic, so that a Gen AI can handle it.

“Out of 35 or so questions, 20 are basic. The remaining 15, they can use a human for that. Even if the AI gets the automated ones wrong, it’s very low risk,” he explains.

AI Still Needs Human Touch

AI does bring higher quality to a call. A Wall Street Journal article said a company showed an AI that routed calls to the appropriate department in the company cut 36 seconds from an average call. The number multiplied by thousands of calls means a steep rise in productivity.

This doesn’t mean AI customer service doesn’t require a human touch though. At least not yet. For example, Zendesk, a customer service software provider, integrates AI to assist their human agents. Their AI tools analyze customer interactions and even suggest responses and relevant information, cutting down the time needed to resolve issues.

As per a study, customer support agents who used an AI tool to guide their conversations increased productivity by approx. 14%. The improvement was more for less experienced agents, touching 35%.

The tangible benefits of AI integration are visible, hence AI is inevitable. As businesses navigate the challenges and opportunities of this technological shift, the goal remains to provide exceptional customer experiences that build loyalty and drive growth. But a collaboration between human and AI agents can ensure that customers receive the best of both worlds.

Navanwita Bora Sachdev

Navanwita is the editor of The Tech Panda who also frequently publishes stories in news outlets such as The Indian Express, Entrepreneur India, and The Business Standard