Echoes of the Past, Voices of the Future

As a species, humans are hardwired to seek out interaction and communication. There has never been a time in history when mankind has been so satisfied with the existing methods of communication that they didn’t strive to improve them

From pre-historic grunts and smoke signals to the sophisticated dialogues of today, our desire to connect and express has continuously shaped the methods we use to reach out to one another. This blog traces the footsteps of our communicative evolution, from the echoes of the first human grunt to the voices of a hyper-personalised AI Voicebot!

The Reign of Voice Communication

Studies say that 50,000 years ago, humans started to differentiate themselves from other species by graduating from grunts and cries to speaking words and sentences. Yet it was after another 30,000 years that humans could produce sound similar to what we define today as ‘speech.’ Despite this advancement, early speech had its limitations. It was ephemeral — once spoken, words could not be preserved — and it was limited in reach, able to only communicate with those within earshot. As any influencer would say, wasn’t easy to get outreach.

The invention of writing in ~3,400 BCE solved the first of these issues, while the Romans tackled the second ~2,400 BCE by beginning to write and send letters. However, letter writing was labor-intensive, slow, and cumbersome. Although the invention of the telegraph in the 1830s sought to address these problems, it was the advent of the telephone in 1876 that truly revolutionized communication.

The adoption of the telephone was rapid (Although some people thought of it to be the Instrument of the Devil) because it was real-time, efficient, but primarily, because humans were back to communicating in the mode they were almost comfortable in, a mode which felt natural, retained emotion, and reduced misunderstandings (The Problem with Text[Key&Peele]).

With rapid developments in quality of calling, reduction of cost etc. it seemed like humans were satisfied with their method of communication. And then came the internet.

The Era of Typing

From expensive SMS to Whatsapp in the post-Jio world, the 21st century adopted Chat. This transition from costly SMS to more affordable, internet-based chat applications represents a fundamental change in how we connect with each other. Chatting offers benefits that traditional calling struggles to match. It’s less intrusive, giving individuals the flexibility to respond when convenient, and it simplifies record-keeping. A recent study revealed that 50% of GenZ and Millenials have chat as their preferred format of communication (v/s Audio and Video Calling).

But despite its widespread accessibility, the dominance of chatting as the primary mode of communication isn’t as pronounced as one might expect. Compare this to the invention of the telephone, which almost made telegraph and letters obsolete (apart from that 1 love letter you wrote your highschool crush). However, in today’s landscape, even with the undeniable conveniences of chatting — its low cost, ease of access, and ubiquity — voice communication remains resilient.

Meaningful conversations, may they be with your S/O, your parents, your colleagues or your friends, are still preferred via voice. On the other hand, for urgent information or quick updates, a phone call is frequently the go-to method. This shows that a highly convenient trendy format has not changed our instinct to ‘talk it out’.

This resilience of vocal interaction highlights an intrinsic human trait — the need for direct, personal, and immediate connection that voice uniquely offers.

The Advent of AI

Artificial Intelligence has started to, and will continue revolutionising human interactions. Instead of chatting with a fellow sapien, we now have the option of chatting with an all-knowing chatbot, who we can curate into helping us in specific ways.

Chatbots are already carving out their niche, elbowing into places traditionally occupied by human to human interactions. From offering personalised sales pitches, rapid customer support or even initial customer screening across key sectors including healthcare & banking, chatbots bring about a previously unseen level of efficiency and scale.

But is text the most natural format for these interactions? When you’re dying to know how far away your pizza delivery is, or you’re learning about the intricacies of your new health insurance, or navigating through a vast e-catalogue to find the best dress for you, wouldn’t you prefer a quick, no-wait phone call? There’s a certain candid transparency in voice communication.

Current voice bots cannot match the speed and efficiency of chatbots, let alone that of a human conversation. But with the rapid growth of transcribers and LLMs through open-source models, will they soon be able to compete?

And when they do, have we Millenials/GenZs become so accustomed to WhatsApp that we have changed our preferred method of communication? Or will we see a re-invention of the telephone, as voicebots inch closer to peak efficiency? The future of AI in communication is thrilling and remains to be seen.

The Dawn of VoiceBots??

Voicebots are a blend of AI with the intuitiveness of human speech. Unlike traditional chatbots that operate on text, voicebots engage users through spoken dialogue, simulating a natural conversation. They are not merely tools for efficient information exchange; they have the potential to replicate the nuances of human communication. With the amount of customization, knowledge and personalisation that they bring to the table, they may even enhance these nuances.

As we enter a new era of technological innovation, voicebots stand at the forefront, poised to revolutionize the way we communicate

Voicebots will see many applications in the future, some including —

1. Streamlined Data Collection: Automate tasks like initial screening calls for recruitment or large-scale surveys, efficiently capturing basic information from vast populations.
2. Efficient Inbound Management: Handle high volumes of inbound communications effectively, such as customer complaints or restaurant reservations, filtering and capturing critical data.
3. Personalized Persuasion for Business Goals: Engage customers in completing necessary procedures (like KYC) or re-engaging churned users, even potentially in political campaigns, through tailored persuasive strategies.
4. Guided User Onboarding: Assist new users on websites or apps with personalized walkthroughs, enhancing their initial experience and understanding.
5. ‘Second Brain’ Assistance: Act as a companion or mentor, providing company, advice, guidance, and emotional support.

Adoption and Scaling of voicebots in these applications will only be possible however, with the creation of features such as —

1. Vernacular Support: 70% of Indians are not fluent in English and with rapid increase in internet & smarphone penetration, this gives 1 Billion Indians who need vernacular support (for context, USA and Western European countries together amount to half of this number).
2. Insightful Analysis Dashboards: A conversation is only as useful as what you learn from it. The best voicebots will also create aesthetic and informative outputs, generating insights from their conversations.
3. Seamless App Integrations: Voicebots start becoming irreplaceable when they also act as assistants. From conversations, integrations with apps such as Calendar Tools, Payment Providers, Messaging Platforms, Healthcare services etc. will allow voice to to perform basic tasks for users.
4. Emotional Intelligence: One of the most crucial aspects will be the ability to read and respond to emotions, a fundamental reason why voice has been a dominant form of communication.

So, what does the future hold for VoiceBots? Will they become a predominant form of communication, will they be an additional feature in existing chatbot technologies, or will they fade away as a gimmicky technological fad? And how would you use voicebots in your life or business?