The Impact of AI on Customer Service

Is AI taking over humans?

Am sure at some point in seeking assistance, we have all contacted customer support and possibly had to navigate through multiple confusing options, then had to be put on hold for a good amount of minutes before you heard “Hello, how may I be of assistance to you today?

At some point, as the one looking for answers, we often don’t stop and think about what happens on the customer service side.?

Customer service agents will get asked the same question over 100 times a day by over 100 different customers. And sometimes, they may not have the answer to your question. In this modern world where loyalty from customers quickly fades, the only sure way to keep your customers is by providing exceptional customer service.

Today everything is connected. We are now living with the kind of technology that used to be the things we would see on sci-fi films. Now, with the touch of a button, you have access to a pool of information.?

Just think about how fast and efficient everything around you has become, compared to even five years ago. We now live in the phenomenon of everything around us happening in real-time. For instance, Siri answering your trivia question or Google updating you of a delay on your usual route home.

Our personal lives have become easy due to the real- time revolution and it has changed the way we interact with the world. Subconsciously or not, we all now expect information to be available immediately.?

We have developed high expectations from technology and this could very much be the initial impact of AI on customer experience.

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So what does AI mean?

Artificial intelligence is the key area of computer science that focuses on developing digital machines that can take up tasks that need human intelligence. It is the digital replication of human abilities using computer processes.

These processes by computer systems consist of learning, reasoning, and self-correction. The applications of Artificial Intelligence include speech recognition, machine vision, and expert systems.

Traditionally, when you would think of customer service what would come to mind is a courteous and helpful person on the other end of a call.?

But now with technology, the advancement of artificial intelligence presents the potential for major improvements in customer service for businesses worldwide.

It is applicable to various elements of customer support operations such as automated communication, problem resolution, and personalization. Organizations that have integrated AI to their existing processes and systems, have seen a rise in efficiency and customer satisfaction.

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Let us then explore some of the advantages of customer service AI and the drawbacks within the industry. But first….

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The Positive Impacts of AI

1. Improved Customer Service

Today customer service representatives are tasked to handle a large number of customer calls on a day-to-day basis while faced with the challenge of reducing the average resolution time for every customer.?

AI-enabled chatbots are able to proactively start a conversation with a client, offer relevant information, and assist at every stage of a customer’s shopping journey. This has allowed customers to get assistance and information whenever they need it without having to wait in line for their turn.

Not only do chatbots provide extremely fast responses in real-time, but they can also take away a good chunk of the burden on human agents by resolving a high number of customer queries with the highest accuracy and human-like behavior.?

Bots are also able to transfer a caller to a live agent if there is a need for human attention. This allows agents to attend to serious and demanding issues and leave the rest to AI, creating space to attend to other major concerns.?

The adaptation of chatbots has enabled customer agents to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, improving the relationships between businesses and their customers resulting in increased efficiency.

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2. Cost reduction and resource optimization

Chatbots can answer up to 80% of routine questions.?This results in businesses cutting customer service costs by expediting response times, freeing up agents for more demanding tasks.

This has enabled businesses to reduce labor costs while increasing productivity and efficiency.

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3. Available 24/7

The modern customer in Kenya today, wants service on their terms and businesses must be available and responsive to customers at any time of the day.?

As a business owner, having a dedicated customer service team is one way to ensure great customer service. Studies have however shown that, humans are productive only about 3 to 4 hours in a day. There is need to breaks for humans to balance their work life and personal life.

This is where AIs come in because they can work endlessly without breaks. They also think way faster than humans and perform multiple tasks at a time with great accuracy.

Organizations in Kenya that have automated customer service have been able to consistently deliver on customer service and resolve issues as soon as they arise. This means customers have had their inquiries resolved 24 hours a day without having to wait for long periods to get a response.

Automating customer service not only goes a long way in increasing customer satisfaction and providing excellent customer service, but also improves brand reputation and drives higher customer loyalty.

?4. Personalized User Experience

Artificial Intelligence is proving to be helpful in customizing customer service provision. It offers the convenience of analyzing client’s data and tailoring the services to align with the customers’ preferences.

AI helps analyze customers’ data and key metrics, and recommend products or services to customers based on their browsing or buying preferences.?

The AI’s ability to collect data from multiple sources allows devices to gather clients’ information like geographical location, personal preferences, events, or even weather conditions and provide the most relevant service to a customer.

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5. Improved Customer Engagement

Artificial intelligence can play a big role in increasing overall interactions with customers. Through the use of automated messaging and emails, and targeted content, a business can stay in touch with its customers, keeping them engaged with the brand.?

This increased customer engagement can result in improved customer loyalty and improved sales numbers.

With the help of chatbots assistants, customer service agents are able to handle a big part of customer queries. Through AI email tagging, humans can save the time required to read every customer email by having?AI-powered programs that scan emails, tag them, and direct them to the right office.?

This in turn would help the customer service agents save time and focus on the more complex tasks that cannot be completed without human intervention.

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6. Data Gathering

Artificial Intelligence has the ability to gather data in a simplified way and unify it to create a single customer view based on customers’ behavioral patterns. Initial versions of AI depended on existing customer data which was fed manually.

The new updated AI systems can now proactively request data from customers without human intervention, easily analyze behavioral patterns and instantly respond to the needs and sentiments of the customers as well as know when exactly to ask further questions.

After gathering data, AI systems are able to examine it and take further actions to guide the customers through their purchase journey.

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7. Predictive Insights

Ever logged in to a food ordering App or a shopping website and before you start making your order, suggestions on what to get that really resonate with you come up?

Well, this is possible through AI integration with existing systems. This results in improved customer relationships as these companies are able to provide customers with information that is relevant to them. This also, increases communication and transparency.

With AI, it has become easy to instantly scan through previous products, inventory, or services to recommend items relevant to the customer making the customer experience and interactions easier and streamlined across all channels.

Every customer needs feel that each and every product or service or brand is specifically tailored for them. This is Predictive personalization helps businesses achieve.

The Negative Side of AI on Customer Service

There are two sides of a coin so, with all the good that AI brings to the table, we must also be cautious of all its flaws.?

1. High Cost of Implementation

Huge costs go into setting up AI based machines due to the complexity of building one. In addition, there are also the repair and maintenance costs that go into thousands of dollars.?

These AI-based software programs must be frequently upgraded in order to cater to the requirements of the changing environment as the machine needs to become smarter by the day.?

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2. Lack Human Touch

There is no need to be terrified by the idea of being replaced by machines, because honestly, it is still a far-fetched notion at least in the near future. Human intelligence is a gift of nature and you cannot build this into a machine.

The truth is that AIs have the ability to store a lot of data but the procedure of retrieving information from them is quite a cumbersome process, which is way too difficult when compared to human intelligence.

Machines are rational but they don’t have any emotions or moral values. Machines fall short in the ability to bond with human beings, which is a key attribute needed to manage a team of humans.

?3. Doesn’t Improve with Experience

Humans have the ability to naturally get better with time as they gain experience in doing tasks over time. One of the most fascinating features of human cognitive power is its ability to develop with age and experience. The same cannot be said of AIs, they instead tear and wear over time.

Machines do not have the ability to modify their response to changing environments because they are built on the basis of repetitive nature of work where the input doesn’t change. So, whenever there is some change in the input, the AI needs to be upgraded to address new needs.

Machines are unable to judge what is right or what is wrong due to their limitation of understanding the concept of ethics or legality. They are programmed for certain repetitive situations and can’t really make decisions in cases where they encounter an unfamiliar situation.

4. Lacks Creativity

The human brain is characterized by immense sensitivity and high emotional quality. AIs can never obtain the abilities of the human brain. This is because skills can be learned and mastered, but abilities come naturally and can only be honed.

AIs cannot learn to think outside the box. AI can only learn through pre-fed data and past experiences, but cannot be creative in its approach.?

Artificial Intelligence is not built for the creative space and although they can assist in designing and creating something, they still can’t compete with the human brain. Their creativity is limited to the creative ability of the person who programs and commands them.

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5. Unemployment

A robot is one of the applications of artificial intelligence that has the potential to displace occupations.?

Think of the days you had to walk into a bank to access your money but now with ATM machines and the entry on the internet, we now have internet banking and Kenya, mobile money is largely preferred. As a result, this freed up the teller to do more demanding tasks.

Are AIs going to take over human jobs? AIs take over the majority of the repetitive tasks, which are largely binary in nature and involve minimum subjectivity but over time we have seen additional opportunities come up for humans to work.

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In conclusion

Artificial intelligence has revolutionized customer service with personalization, convenience and reduced overall service frustrations.

Adopting AI technologies such as bots and other AI-powered communication in your CRM will propel your business to a whole new level and even make you stand out among your competitors.

If implemented correctly, artificial intelligence is of great benefit to customer experience with its ability to enhance the response time, combine the sentiments into positive responses, and remove any sort of restriction.

Article Author

Jackie Wahome, a Customer Experience Trainer and Speaker in Kenya with over 16 years of experience in Customer Experience across different industries in Kenya.

Helping businesses make more and retain more customers through unrivalled Customer Experience.

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