Balancing Technology and Humanity: Enhancing Customer Service through Artificial Intelligence
Nick Glimsdahl
Recognized as one of ICMI's Top 25 Thought Leaders of 2025 | Expert in Transforming Contact Centers, Boosting Efficiency, and Enhancing Customer Experience
For over three decades, customer service has been a staple in the business world. And sure, technology has come a long way and can certainly improve efficiency, but it cannot replace the empathy and understanding that a human customer service representative can provide. So, why are we so quick to push technology into areas where it doesn't belong?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to be a game-changer for businesses,
but it should not be used as a replacement for human interaction. Instead, it
should be used as a tool to enhance the customer experience and solve corporate problems more quickly and easily.
It's important to remember that while AI can assist with a wide range of tasks, it cannot replace the human touch. Therefore, it's essential to determine which areas of customer service can be fully automated and which should be handled by people.
At the end of the day, the focus should always be on customer service and customer experience. It's the backbone of any successful operation, regardless of the year, era, technology or progress. So, let's use technology to our advantage, but never at the cost of losing that human connection with our customers. By strategically incorporating AI into our customer service operations, we can improve efficiency and provide a more personalized experience for our customers. Whether it's through chatbots for quick and easy queries or utilizing AI-powered analytics to gain insights into customer behavior, the possibilities are endless.
It's important to keep in mind that AI should never be seen as a replacement for human customer service representatives, but rather as an additional layer of support. Our customer service agents are experts in their field, and they should be utilized to provide the personal touch that technology cannot replicate.
By striking a balance between technology and human interaction, we can create a truly seamless customer service experience. One that not only meets the needs of the customer but exceeds their expectations. As the business world evolves, so should our approach to customer service, but the foundation should always be about providing the best possible experience for our customers.
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Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Nick Glimsdahl?is a speaker, podcast host, contact center strategist, and?author. His mission is to bring together customer expectations, employee needs, and business objectives to create seamless experiences.
Today, Nick hosts the?Press 1 For Nick?podcast and is the Director of Contact Center Solutions at?VDS.?
Learn from Leaders (Chick-fil-a, The Ritz-Carlton, Crumbl Cookies, Zappos, Google, Starbucks and Disney), best-selling authors, and other fascinating people like Hostage Negotiators, Authors, Scientists, TEDX Speakers, and Researchers.
Each episode features topics like Customer Experience, Employee Experience, Customer Journey, Customer Service, Employee Experience, Contact Center, Culture, Personalization, Storytelling, and more.
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2 年It's important that business owners realize they can never completely replace the human connection with AI. I will share!
Hey Nick, great article!? It's also important to remember that AI doesn't just start and end with a chatbot. AI can (and should) be used to collect and analyze things like customer trends. This can help you take a proactive approach: allowing you to address (and even fix) issues before they escalate into more significant problems.? This goes back to your original point. While businesses should use AI to help capture the voice of the customer in real time, it's then up to their human agents to step in and make things right.??
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2 年I cannot think of a single time that artificial intelligence from any company has resulted in satisfactory customer service, and yet more companies are moving in the direction of forcing customers to use AI-exclusive avenues to reach them. In some cases, via a company's online customer service portal or telephone system, you CAN EVENTUALLY get to a human, but that's only after wasting many minutes with a bot "assistant" that is useful only for the most elementary of customer service questions. The motive behind these actions by company executives is obvious: They do not want to offer customer service at all, and they hope that customers will give up and hang up (or otherwise disconnect) out of frustration when using their AI systems that lack customer-to-human-contact. While this action may seem counterproductive -- why would a company want to potentially risk losing customers? -- it may eventually become an industry standard. (By the way, I realize that AI is also being used behind the scenes in subtle ways unseen to the customer, but direct uses that I have experienced have done nothing useful for me.)