Expert Analysis by Dmitry Kindrya, COO at ToYou Delivery
Customer support is vital in business operations today because it largely defines brand perception and affects customer loyalty in a very competitive environment. That’s why companies work around the clock to be ahead of the competition, trying to implement the most advanced technologies and approaches.
But when it comes to the undoubtedly most prominent technology of recent years, AI, things get more complicated. Despite AI’s advantages, customers generally prefer human communication. This means that over-relying on AI chatbots can, in fact, harm business. At the same time, ignoring rapid AI development today means staying out of business tomorrow. In this article, I will explain the key reasons behind customer mistrust in AI and outline ways to deal with them to optimise business performance.
Why Customers Don’t Like AI in Customer Support
According to a new survey by US technological research and consulting firm Gartner, Inc., 64% of customers would love that companies did not use AI in their customer service at all. The top concern (60% of those surveyed) respondents cite is that AI-powered technologies would prevent them from reaching a real person.
So what are the reasons that make people feel that AI is an obstacle rather than a useful tool in customer service? AI solutions still lag behind humans when it comes to empathy and deep understanding of complex situations. Thanks to their ability to interpret emotional cues, human agents can offer truly personalized customer care, which translates to a high level of satisfaction and trust.
When they cannot get that level of understanding from AI, customers tend to feel bitter and disappointed.
Other concerns regarding AI in customer service include the biases and errors that AI-powered systems often make. The fear of getting the wrong information from AI worries 42% of the 5,728 respondents in the survey. 25% of customers expressed concern that AI systems without human oversight would treat them unfairly because of biases inherited from training data.
These shortcomings are the reason why 53% of customers would rather switch to another company than interact with AI chatbots, the Gartner survey found.
Why Ignoring AI in Customer Support is Unwise
Despite the problems that fuel mistrust, AI still has benefits that make it very hard to avoid in customer care.
Productivity is the top advantage that comes to mind when speaking of AI. With AI chatbots, customers can get assistance at any time of day or night, seven days a week. This level of availability is truly hard to reach with human agents. What is more important is that AI-powered solutions can give clients responses almost instantly, reducing wait times to almost zero.
Another major benefit of AI is its cost-effectiveness. With AI, companies can process large volumes of inquiries without hiring a proportionate number of human agents. That helps businesses slash down on operational costs. Additionally, it can save human personnel time spent on routine tasks so that they can focus on solving complex tasks requiring personal attention.
Last but not least, AI systems are highly scalable. Unlike humans, AI assistants can work with numerous customer inquiries simultaneously without a drop in quality. This means companies can easily handle sudden increases in demand while maintaining high-quality performance.
How Can You Use AI Without Alienating Your Customers?
Despite all the progress that AI technology has made, it still has a long way to go before it reaches a level of understanding comparable to that of humans. However, this doesn’t mean companies do not have a chance to integrate AI effectively into their customer care flows right now.
The key to bridging the gap between humans and AI in customer support is to make AI look more human-like.
One of the components of this strategy is creating different virtual agents with distinct features, like manners of communication. Ensuring clients communicate with different AI personas along their customer journey can mitigate the perception of repetitiveness.
Another tactic is making AI follow human speech patterns more closely. This includes AI chatbots using an informal communication style, making human-like pauses, and even making grammar mistakes. These imperfections can create a feeling of less robotic interaction and help customers overcome their prejudices related to the use of AI.
To implement this strategy in reality, I’d suggest companies use AI’s adaptive learning capabilities. AI systems could adapt based on an analysis of customers’ past interactions with the support center. Learning from feedback and previous conversations, AI-powered chatbots could provide clients with more satisfying experiences.
This doesn’t mean that this approach would lead to the replacement of humans in customer care. AI systems still need human oversight. Rather than that, this strategy would simplify the work of existing human agents and reduce operational costs for the company.
AI in Customer Support: Google’s Case
The techniques I described above are already in use by some of the top corporations.
Google has developed Duplex, an AI system for natural conversations over the phone. Its key specialty is natural language processing technology, which makes it sound remarkably human. For example, Duplex uses words like “um” and appropriate intonation in interactions, automatically adapting to the person on the other end of the call. At the same time, Duplex doesn’t need specific training because it uses machine learning to improve based on past interactions with customers. Duplex has been successfully used for services like booking restaurant reservations and salon appointments in multiple US states.
Conclusion
Despite there being specific reservations among customers regarding AI, this technology is too big to ignore. It is set to offer unseen opportunities for bringing customer-quality care to a brand new level. Even today, AI can be used in a way that can help businesses improve their customer service. By making AI solutions closer to humans in their communication style, companies can benefit from their high productivity levels while saving up on expenses. This doesn’t mean humans can be excluded from the process; on the contrary, it means they can gain a new tool that will help them become more effective.
