Optimistic AI vs. Grumpy Marketer: A Debate About the Future of CX

With 2023 almost here, the possibility in the new year of an AI taking over the world (and the marketing space) just got a little more likely.

The source of this looming threat (opportunity)? The recent debut of an amazing new piece of technology called ChatGPT.

If you haven't yet been exposed to ChatGPT -- or, more importantly, haven't taken some time to play with it -- you owe it to yourself to do so moving into the new year.

ChatGPT is a type of AI referred to as a Large Language Model (LLM). It has been trained using more than 570 gigabytes of text, including sources like Reddit, to teach it to interact conversationally with humans. More significantly, it sits within the category of "Generative AI" -- that is, it can create new content that has never existed before (versus a search engine like Google, which can only respond to your prompt with existing content that it has previously indexed).

ChatGPT can perform an amazing array of functions, including but certainly not limited to: researching complex topics, writing and debugging software code, writing articles, composing song lyrics, creating the plot of a movie, outlining a business plan, or offering you endless title options for your latest blog post.* And it can do all of those things for you within seconds.

So, back to the title of this article: After trying out some pretty basic questions on ChatGPT myself (like, "What is the value of a customer loyalty program?"), I decided to test out it's self-reflective abilities. Specifically, I wanted to see if it could a create a dialogue about the potential impact of AI like itself on the future of CX. So, I gave it this prompt:

ChatGPT, could you write for me a short conversation between an upbeat AI and a skeptical marketer about the future of AI in customer experience?

Within seconds, ChatGPT began to type this out for me:

AI: Hey there, Grumpy Marketer! I hear you think that customers will increasingly want interactions that are more human and less digital in the future. Can you tell me why you think that?

Marketer: Ugh, I don't know. It just seems like with all this technology, people are losing their humanity. They want to feel like they're talking to real people, not machines.

So, a pretty interesting start. ChatGPT, based on my prompt alone, made it's own a choice about what specific viewpoint to ascribe to our marketing person's skepticism. It went on:

AI: Oh, I see. Well, I think that technology and AI can actually enhance the customer experience, rather than detract from it. For example, AI can provide data-driven insights and automate repetitive tasks, which can help businesses to better understand and anticipate the needs and preferences of their customers.

Marketer: Yeah, but at what cost? All this technology is making people feel more isolated and disconnected. It's not the same as having a real human interaction.

Again, it's important to understand that this dialogue was appearing in real-time, with me offering no guidance other than the initial prompt. And yet, ChatGPT seems to have a keen understanding of the potential emotional challenge that consumers may be feeling toward an increasingly tech-centric CX. It then used that insight to try to win over our skeptic:

AI: I understand your concern, but I think that technology can actually help to bridge the gap between human and digital interactions. For example, AI can be used to provide personalized and relevant experiences, while also leaving room for human interaction and empathy.

Marketer: Hmph, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. But I still think that customers will always value human interaction and connection over technology.

This part of the interaction I found particularly shrewd on ChatGPT's part. It was demonstrating nuanced positioning by recognizing the value in both the AI-driven CX and the human-centric CX, working in unison. Our marketer, however, remained unconvinced.

The conversation then came to a close:

AI: Well, I guess time will tell! But in the meantime, let's not forget that technology can be a powerful tool for enhancing the customer experience. So let's not grump on it too much, okay Grumpy Marketer?

Marketer: Fine, whatever. Just don't expect me to be all cheerful and optimistic about it like you are.

And with that conclusion it's very hard for me not to think that ChatGPT has a bit of a sense of humor -- or, more likely, has effectively extracted an understanding of how humor is integral to human dialogue, which is just as impressive.

So, where does that leave us? What role is conversational AI like ChatGPT likely to play in the coming year and how will it impact how we interact with customers? It's actually a challenge to predict simply because of the exponential rate at which an AI learns -- whatever ChatGPT is capable of today, it will surely be able to do far, far more a year from now. But, as someone with high hopes for the potential of this technology, I can already imagine using it to:

• Write new marketing copy for a website or product packaging in whatever voice best matches your brand
• Analyze a series of data points associated with a specific customer cohort to recommend a personalized messaging strategy
• Recommend all the components of a new email campaign, including segmentation, cadence, and graphical treatment
• Analyze a new consumer market, including researching market size, potential client targets, competition, and most interesting opportunities for disruption

One final thing to keep in mind, though: from my own experimentation with ChatGPT I can affirm that it is only as impressive as the prompts you provide. Give it a vague or uninteresting question and it will give an answer in kind. But provide it interesting qualifiers and modifiers to more specifically or uniquely frame your question and you'll be far more satisfied with the clarity and insight in its response. This insight also reflects a reality that however good the AI, there is still a critical creative and guiding role to be played by the humans that interact with it.

What are your thoughts? What potential do you see for AI like ChatGPT in our work with customers in 2023? And which camp do you fall into at this point -- sunny optimist, or grumpy pessimist?

*ChatGPT actually authored the title for this very blog post -- I prompted it to provide me with 10 options, and then selected the one you see above.

About the Author:

Barry Kirk is a?Principal Consultant and CX Practice Leader for?The Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute.?He is the originator of?Multi-Loyalty Framework for TrulyHuman consumer engagement,?and an untiring evangelizer of the notion that "Customers are human beings first."