Artificial intelligence is increasingly making its presence felt in our lives. One area experiencing rapid development is customer service. Automating processes frees employees from repetitive or emotionally draining tasks and translates into improved customer experiences. The impact of artificial intelligence on the customer service process
A 2020 study by Gartner predicted that by 2022, as many as 70% of customer service interactions would involve robots and AI
[1]. Artificial intelligence accelerates business processes, which directly translates into improved company efficiency. A task that a consultant performs in an hour can be completed in just over ten minutes with the help of AI. Another area where the impact of artificial intelligence is significant is business process automation. Some customer service tasks—such as processing initial inquiries—can be entrusted to AI. It will perform them faster and more effectively because it does not get tired and can handle multiple queries simultaneously. This is why more and more companies are deciding to
implement RPA and hand over repetitive tasks to the “hands” of artificial intelligence. Implementing AI in business can positively affect employee morale and efficiency. By entrusting it with monotonous tasks, employees can be redirected to processes requiring creativity, which can contribute to a significant improvement in company performance.
Artificial intelligence in customer service is a set of many tools. Each one individually can contribute to quality improvement, but as a rule, better results are achieved by using several solutions simultaneously.
Technologies related to process automation include both robots and platforms that allow employees to create new applications. In customer service, tools using artificial intelligence include various types of robots. They often use natural language processing and machine learning to continuously expand their available data resources and improve performance. In customer service, the following are generally used:
- chatbots – bots specialized in conducting text conversations; the simplest type are rule-based chatbots using ready-made databases or scenarios; conversational chatbots use artificial intelligence to imitate human responses and maintain the conversation;
- voicebots – voice bots used in telephone customer service for incoming and outgoing calls; they generally use artificial intelligence.
Another solution is screen scraping. It is used to copy and analyze information displayed on the screen for later use in other purposes. This is often combined with IDP (Intelligent Document Processing). Together, they can use artificial intelligence, which can process large amounts of information in real-time faster than consultants.
Artificial intelligence in customer service automation
The use of artificial intelligence can not only improve the quality of customer service but also
automate marketing. Marketing and customer service departments often collaborate, and the results of one team’s work affect the other. AI can be used, for example, in email marketing automation, in the form of automatic sending or content generation. Artificial intelligence in business also manifests itself in the form of No-Code or Low-Code platforms. Thanks to their use and proper UX design, employees without programming backgrounds can create applications that will translate into further improvements in company efficiency.
How can artificial intelligence change the customer service process?
The use of artificial intelligence in business guarantees an increase in employee and process efficiency. AI can work faster and more efficiently, does not get tired of performing repetitive tasks, and can process a much larger number of queries than a consultant. Its actions are scalable and measurable, which allows for clearly defining their effectiveness. Artificial intelligence means greater security. Robots use numerous safeguards, and thanks to the use of machine learning and natural language understanding, they are able to minimize the probability of errors. A chatbot will not get tired or make a mistake, which is possible in the case of an employee. This makes it possible to implement 24/7 customer service. Using AI can reduce customer frustration, which can be useful in telephone service. In the case of a conversation with a consultant, the negative attitude of one party can affect the other. Artificial intelligence does not feel emotions, but thanks to machine learning and voice recognition systems, it can identify them and select the best possible responses. A factor that can improve customer satisfaction is the greater knowledge of artificial intelligence. A consultant, even an experienced one, may not know something or may forget at a given moment. AI has continuous access to databases and is able to find a solution to a problem in a short time, which can be used to predict possible difficulties.
One of the greatest advantages of using artificial intelligence in business is the ability to personalize information. Based on entered data, the use of machine learning, and interactions with customers, AI is able to create a profile of a given person, which will allow for better matching of proposed solutions. Personalizing the information provided to the customer and ensuring full access to service can be a very helpful tool in marketing activities. In this case, AI can play a double role. In the first case, it can be treated as a tool thanks to which a marketer will develop and match the best possible offer. In the second, it can be used to automate this process and send the finished offer to the customer.
Challenges of artificial intelligence in customer service
The development of artificial intelligence is still associated with many challenges. Some problems are of a technological nature—some tools using AI will perform only as well as the data provided allows. If the data is of low quality, the results will also be poor. The ethics of using artificial intelligence in business is a problem. It cannot be hidden that it will never replace contact with another human being. Emotion recognition systems are increasingly advanced, but AI may have trouble understanding, for example, sarcasm. This works the other way around—customers can get frustrated by the eternally calm tone of a voice bot. The very fact of automation is also a problem. Delegating tasks previously performed by humans to artificial intelligence creates a threat of unemployment. However, this is also an opportunity, as artificial intelligence cannot function without human help. Their implementation in a company can be an opportunity for some employees to retrain. Artificial intelligence in business, although increasingly popular, is associated with significant costs. Its implementation and maintaining operational continuity are expensive, but there are many indications that the profits from its use are greater than the losses. For this reason, it can be expected that in the coming years, artificial intelligence in business will become increasingly popular.
[1] https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-cx-trends-for-cios-to-watch 
