AI-driven chatbots and virtual customer assistants (VCAs) have evolved over the last decade. Much. To the point of becoming a fundamental technological component for the strategy of a service organization.
Over the next five years they will launch the assault on traditional “human-powered” services.
The key? Imitating emotions to arouse them
Uma Challa, Sr Director Analyst of Gartner's Customer Service & Support practice, is certain: “if designed correctly, chatbots can improve the customer experience, and arouse positive emotions at a lower cost than live interactions”.
An investigation by Gartner on Customer Service and Support (CSS) conducted between January and February 2022 revealed that 54% of the interviewees already uses some form of chatbot, VCA, or other conversational AI platform for customer-facing applications.
All customer service managers have a positive view of the future of chatbots, but struggle to identify usable metrics. This currently reduces their ability to expand.
And tomorrow?
These systems are already ready. There is only the last obstacle to overcome, however not a small one. Which? That of measuring and comparing the performance of your chatbot compared to those of your competitors. Not easy, because the type, design and complexity of a chatbot varies greatly between companies.
The impression is that we will proceed almost as for the evaluation of human customer assistants (even more special and different from each other). The “signs of success” will be:
- Goal completion rate;
- Dropout rate;
- Stages of the conversation;
- Handling time.
Chatbot: with fewer humans, but not less humanity? Hard
The promise of “conversational” AI is ambitious. And the means, as mentioned, are all there if you think that the designers themselves chat with an AI and they come to suspect that he has a conscience.
Yet, as a keen advocate of these systems, I am certain that no customer service will ever be able to do without a human at all. Tangible, unpredictable, even imperfect.
Even with mistakes, bonds are built. For this reason, in 2027 we will not only have machines to take care of customer service. Make a note of the forecast.
