How the Rise of Conversational AI Improves Customer Service

How up to date are you on AI (artificial intelligence) programming? Just a short time ago, this new technology seemed promising but also lightyears away. However, it’s progress is moving at a rapid pace. Now, companies can utilize conversational AI to their advantage.

The rise of this technology provides new possibilities in the realm of customer service, specifically chat boxes or chatbots. Conversational AI can assist your customers 24/7, providing a far better experience that the traditional chatbot that so many consumers have learned to hate. If you’re on the fence about this technology, here’s what you need to know about AI and customer service. 

It Is Very New

Before diving into the benefits, you need to understand that this technology is still developing. You should expect a few hiccups and know that it isn’t perfect. That being said, it’s new nature means that conversational AI is constantly evolving. 

AI is now capable of offering an incredibly human interaction with your customers. Researchers and innovators provide continuous updates as well as solutions to any issues. Expected to reach $15.7 billion market size by 2024, new AI technology allows these chatbots to understand various languages, context, and even tones when communicating with a person. 

While it isn’t 100% perfect, it’s well on its way there. Making the investment now means you don’t have to worry about buying in as the technology increases, especially if you pick a service that provides continual updates and service. 

Skip the Script

The first way a conversational AI boosts your customer service is by ditching the scripted, repetitive, and often frustrating dialogue that traditional chatbots offer. Until now, consumers have had to deal with a handful of boxed replies to countless responses, most of which fail to answer specific questions. On the business end, the goal has been to make a chatbot’s replies seem as realistic as possible. 

Upgrade to an AI model and you’ll find that those boring old scripts are yesteryear’s problem. Instead of scripted replies based on keywords, these bots engage your customers in real-time by grasping the context of an entire conversation word for word.

Smarter Technology

A more authentic conversation is obviously going to benefit your customer value management framework, but it helps to understand how and why. The secret behind AI is always going to be its technology. In this case, it’s all about the ability to understand human language. 

The first piece of tech implemented is Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). ASR is responsible for interpreting phrases spoken by humans, which you might recognize from Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. Translated to text, this part of conversational AI better understands language as spoken naturally in conversation. 

Next up is Advanced Dialogue Management (ADM), which is how the AI forms its responses. The robot, so to speak, is crafting code as it takes in the words and phrases given to it by the customer. ADM takes that code and turn it back into language, providing a response the user can understand clearly.

Separating AI from traditional chatbots is Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP goes beyond scripted replies by understanding the meaning of words and any intention or context behind them. With this, a modern chatbot is capable of fully addressing the needs and concerns of your customers. 

Finally, there’s Machine Learning (ML). This allows the AI to record and understand the conversations it has had in the past, learning from each experience to build a more comprehensive dialogue. In a nutshell, that means the chatbot can better understand customer input and provide better responses as well as solutions over time. 

Breaking the Mold

With the ability to hold higher-level conversations, assist consumers 24/7, and learn to communicate in a more human fashion, conversational AI is changing the customer service game. While it’s still new, it is well worth your time to look into this investment as you build customer value for your brand.