Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies have already begun to change life as we know it. If you’ve ever asked Alexa about the weather, or asked Siri to look up the definition of a word, you have experienced the convenience that even the most basic of AIs can provide. With dozens of technical businesses using machine learning to tackle issues like credit card fraud and poor patient care, it was only a matter of time before they made their way into one of the biggest areas of a multitude of industries: the customer call center.
Since artificial intelligence tech is best geared toward monotonous, arduous, or highly technical fields, the marketing call center space is already primed for the entry of AI. By eliminating the time and effort it takes to figure where inbound sales calls (or outbound sales calls, for that matter) need to go, AIs can streamline the process and allow employees to focus on more enriching queries and jobs. In turn, call center employees will develop more advanced critical thinking and communication skills, which translates as a better overall customer service call center experience for those who do need to speak to a human agent. The end result is win-win-win: companies can grow their business due to time and money saved through an AIs application, employees find their jobs more interesting and engaging, and customers receive a less time-consuming, more improved experience (which is massive because 64% of people consider experience to be more important than price).
However, all advancements have their faults: we are still at the beginning stages of development for such a life-altering technology, so the risk of mistakes (though they would definitely be linked to the original artificial intelligence’s programming) is too high to be considered dependable. As of right now, machine learning technologies are excellent at algorithms and statistics, but struggle to understand the emotional nuances of the customer service call center. For example, many people who call into tech support call centers or simple customer service support centers are frustrated or dissatisfied with their product or service and demand discounts or special deals to balance their poor experience; currently, there is no AI that would be capable of interpreting those emotions, and would either offer too large of a discount, or would lose business for not offering one at all.