Video Chatbots to Replace Humans

Everyone needs to elevate engagement and the level of value they provide customers and their employer to fund their role and assure success and ongoing career relevance.

The videos i this article will blow your mind... and they are already out of date. Soul Machines is on the cutting edge of building commercial AI avatars that can appear on a computer screen, and even in 3D, to simulate face-to-face engagement. The face in the main image of this article is one of their 3D avatars and they are already being deployed in banks and energy companies to inform and serve customers.

With names such as Jamie (ANZ Bank), Will (Vector Energy), Ava (Autodesk), and Sarah (Daimler Mercedes Benz), they are connecting with customers, replicating human emotion, providing the right answers and asking insightful questions. Many call centre workers in affluent countries have been 'off-shored' to lower cost countries, and now those roles are set to be outsourced to AI bots.

Think that technology will never replace human beings in sales or customer support roles? ... Think again!

Computing is making relentless gains in line with Moore's Law, and neural networks are supplanting mere algorithms. Soul machines call their AI bots '3D Digital Humans with artificial nervous systems'. Their entities are described as 'autonomous artificial people who can read your face and emotions'. They can actually understand what is being asked or said beyond the actual words. Soul Machines make the point that we humans struggle to form an emotional connection with a voice but we do connect emotionally with a face. In the video below, we see Rachael, an AI Avatar powered by IBM's Watson, selling a credit card to the buyer... start watching from the 2 minute mark to jump straight to the action.

Technology is moving fast and computers have the advantage of being able deal with huge amounts of data to make well informed recommendations. Google is making big strides in Auto Machine learning (Auto ML), and their 'reinforcement learning' has created what they call 'AI Inception': Computers that can create other computers to A/B test, evolve and constantly self-improve. Google Duplex is already capable of calling humans and making appointments without the hapless homo sapien even knowing they were talking to bot.

Here's the big question? Could an AI avatar on the phone or on a computer screen educate the buyer, propose solutions and close the deal? I think it's possible. I think we've passed the Turing Test.

As buyers, we need trust if we are going to hand over our money or risk our reputation in a trick decision. But if you know what you want and if you regard it as a 'commodity', do you even need an emotional connection with the seller? Watch this next video to see Will meeting his own AI avatar... amazing. He builds rapport with his audience and engages them individually.

Informing and answering questions is one thing, but what about proactive influence. Could a new car be sold by an AI like Will or Rachael? Imagine a Tom Hopkins avatar selling you a new car... or even Grant Cardone convincing you to 10X and buy the Bugatti Veyron instead of the Honda Accord!

Interestingly, when I purchased my last new car, the first time I talked to the salesperson was when they called for my credit card details so I could pay the deposit. My entire buyer's journey for a $55,000 decision was done on YouTube, owner's forums, car review sites; and then emails to dealerships telling them what I wanted and my target price. I did not want to put through the car dealer's process for up-selling me on the protection pack, extended warranty or finance. I paid cash. My buying process disempowered, and was misaligned with, the seller's process.The car industry is changing rapidly. Electric cars are changing the business model because dealerships have historically made very little on new car sales and a lot on maintenance and parts. Electric cars have no engine with moving parts, no gearbox, no transmission, no differential, no engine cooling system, no fuel injectors, pumps or tubo. The revenue model for dealers in selling electric cars is unappealing. car manufacturers are going to be forced to drive the sales of their products in new ways. Chrysler / Mercedes is looking at how Rachel (first video) and others can support the buyer's journey online. The Ai will use fly-throughs of the interior, paly the right video to answer a question, instantly change paint and interior colours, alter wheels, and add or remove other options so that the buyer can visualise their exact vehicle. It's already here... go to Tesla.com. All Tesla needs is a Soul Machines salesbot to front-end the experience... how about Toby and Erin as names for the 2-bot global online sales team?

The New Zealand company, Soul Machines, who created the '3D Digital Humans with artificial nervous systems' in this article began with Baby X. They are raising capital and forming partnerships with many corporations globally. Watch the video below that explains how this all works... and then remember that this is already years out of date!

Make no mistake, the bots are coming for many white collar jobs. Office based service agents and commodity sellers need to up their game to provide new levels of value. Don't allow yourself to drift toward commoditisation. Move to value and embrace technology with every fibre of your being. The best you at work and in your career comes from being a hybrid - you and 'the [your] machine' working together.

Here is my article: The Truth About AI For B2B Sales

If you want to be completely freaked-out about where this field is going, watch this next video where a journalist has an awkward conversation with Harmony, an amorous sexbot.

There is an incredibly disturbing 'adults only' documentary that explains Harmony's story and it includes a man who his emotionally connected in ways you won't believe. Watch The Sexbots Are Coming here.

Over to you... what do you think? Are sales people okay or should they be worried? Which industries are most at risk?

I discuss what it takes to succeed in sales today in my book, COMBO Prospecting, published by HarperCollins and The American Management Association (AMACOM) and you can purchase it here on Amazon. 

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Main Image: Soul Machines website - https://www.soulmachines.com/