The Ethical Considerations of Using Voice Bots in Customer Service

Voice bots are increasingly being adopted across businesses in BFSI, Ed-tech, Real Estate, and Travel . Though it has many advantages like 24/7 availability, faster resolution time, more efficiency, and is a much more affordable option to businesses as compared to their human counterpart, it has its own set of cons too.

Voice bots come with many ethical concerns like biases, security breaches, hallucinations, and whatnot. And in this blog, we’re going to address all these ethical concerns along with also giving you helpful tips to mitigate these risks so that you can deploy a responsible voice AI for your customers that not only gives a prompt but accurate resolution. So without wasting any time, let’s dive straight in.

AI Voice Bots: A Quick Overview

First things first, let's define what we're talking about. Voice bots are AI-powered virtual assistants that can engage in conversational interactions with customers through voice commands.

They leverage natural language processing (NLP) and voice AI technology to understand and respond to customer queries in a natural, human-like manner . Essentially, they're like having a personal assistant on call 24/7, but without the demanding salary or the need for coffee breaks for your customers.

Adoption of Voice Bots Across Industries

Now, these voice bots aren't just some futuristic concept, they've been already making waves across industries in the last few years. Imagine being able to check your bank balance, book a flight, or track your online order, all with a simple voice command. Pretty convenient, right?

Here are some industries that widely adopted voice AI in the last few years:

1. Voice bots in BFSI:

In the BFSI sector , voice bots are lending a hand (or should we say, a voice?) with tasks like account inquiries, transaction processing, and even loan application assistance. Who knew managing your finances could be this easy?

2. Voice bots in Airlines:

Want to travel but dread the endless back-and-forth with customer service for any mishaps? Voice bots in the airline industry can easily help your customers with booking flights, checking flight status, and providing travel information. Just say the word, and they'll make your journey a breeze.

3. Voice bots in e-Commerce:

Online shopping can be a joy, but let's be real – dealing with customer support can sometimes be a headache. That's where voice bots in the e-commerce sector come in, offering product recommendations, order tracking, and customer support with just a few spoken words. No more begging for returns or confusing menus to go through. Such a relief, indeed.

Ethical Concerns Regarding Voice Bots in Customer Service

Alright, now that we've covered the basics, let's dive into the main part – the ethical concerns surrounding the use of voice bots in customer service. After all, with great power comes great responsibility, right?

1. Privacy and Data Protection:

One of the biggest concerns is the collection and handling of customer data by voice bots. Think about it, virtual assistants are essentially listening to each and every word of yours and then processing the same data to give you a relevant response to your query. This raises questions about privacy violations and potential data breaches. It's a valid concern and one that needs to be addressed head-on.

2. Transparency and Disclosure:

Have you ever had a conversation with someone, only to later realize it was an AI? And with the advancement in speech recognition and voice technology powered by the capabilities of AI, this is quite easy to accomplish in 2024. That's why transparency and disclosure about the use of voice bots are crucial. Customers deserve to know upfront if they're chatting with a human or an AI, plain and simple.

3. Lack of Emotional Intelligence & Empathy:

Let's be real – as advanced as voice bots are, they're still machines at the end of the day. And while they might be able to understand and respond to your queries empathetically, they may many times lack the emotional intelligence and empathy that human interactions often require. Nobody wants to feel like they're just talking to a cold, unfeeling robot, right?

4. Bias and Discrimination:

Just like their human counterparts, voice bots can sometimes exhibit biases and discrimination based on factors like gender, race, or accent. And nobody wants to feel like they're being treated unfairly or judged because of who they are or how they speak.

Hence properly training your voice bot over time to remove possibilities of biases and discrimination on any ground is much important in 2024.

5. Accountability and Responsibility:

Imagine this scenario: a voice bot makes a mistake or provides incorrect information that leads to a customer losing money or experiencing another negative consequence. Who's responsible for that? Your business? The voice bot provider? The customer? It's a tricky situation that needs to be addressed to ensure proper accountability.

The recent case of Air Canada 's AI chatbot hallucinating and forming fake policies is a great example of the same.

How to Ensure Responsible Implementation of Voice AI?

Okay, now that we've covered the concerns, let's talk about solutions. After all, we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, do we?

1. Establish Clear Guidelines and Policies:

First and foremost, businesses need to establish clear guidelines and policies for the ethical use of voice bots in customer service. These should cover everything from data privacy and transparency to handling sensitive situations and ensuring non-discriminatory practices.

2. Implement Robust Training and Testing:

Just like human employees, voice bots need proper training and testing to ensure they operate ethically and provide accurate and appropriate responses. It's not enough to just let them loose without any oversight or quality control. Hence training your voicebot over a wide range of data for the industry in which it’s being deployed is more than necessary.

3. Implement Continuous Monitoring and Improvement:

But the work doesn't stop there. Businesses should continuously monitor the performance of their voice bots and implement improvements based on customer feedback and emerging ethical concerns. It's an ongoing process, not a one-and-done solution.

4. Maintain Human Oversight and Escalation Paths:

While voice bots can handle many routine tasks, it's crucial to maintain human oversight and provide escalation paths for customers to interact with human agents in complex or sensitive situations if required. Sometimes, you just need that human touch, you know?

Hence provide your customers the freedom to connect with a human agent as and when they need it. This will not only ensure proper escalation but also offer your customers a sense of security.

5. Improvements based on Customer Feedback:

Speaking of human touch, actively seeking and incorporating customer feedback is key to continuously improving the ethical implementation and performance of voice bots. After all, who better to guide the process than the very people these bots are meant to serve?

What Does the Future Look Like?

As exciting as voice AI technology is today, we're just scratching the surface of its potential. With VoiceGenie we’ve achieved many advanced features, but in the near future, we can expect even more advanced capabilities and seamless integration into our daily lives. But with that progress comes the need to stay proactive in addressing emerging ethical concerns as the technology continues to evolve .

It's going to take ongoing collaboration between technology providers, businesses, and customers to ensure the responsible implementation of voice bots. Because in the end, we're all in this together for the advancement of tech for a better tomorrow.

To Conclude:

As we've discussed, the use of voice bots in customer service comes with its fair share of ethical considerations, ranging from privacy and transparency to bias and accountability. But with the right approach and a commitment to addressing these concerns head-on, we can harness the power of this technology while ensuring responsible and ethical practices.

And you know what? With VoiceGenie , you can rest assured that these ethical concerns are a thing of the past. Our advanced Voice AI has the capability to take care of all your future customer needs. With multilingual support for over 100 languages and dialects, language barriers are a non-issue. Plus, our voice bots are so humanized, that your customers won't even realize they're talking to an AI.

So, what are you waiting for? Book a risk-free demo with VoiceGenie today and experience the future of customer service, ethically and responsibly.