AI & DATA ANALYTICS
So-called chatbots have been with us from the very start of the computing revolution . Take Eliza , for instance , a very early programme that interacted via language . In more recent years , chatbots have been used in the customer service space , to varying levels of success . Now , however , new AI-driven approaches are seeking to remedy those difficulties . Research by Zendesk , for instance , demonstrates that over 55 % of companies are increasing their investments in AI and machine learning to support customer experience teams .
The technologisation of customer service perhaps got off to a hesitant start . The initial wave of chatbots , for example , didn ’ t leverage artificial intelligence . Their static nature could lead to anger from customers . “ These brittle processes inevitably frustrated many customers if their enquiry didn ’ t fit within the very narrow parameters of the process for which the bot was trained , or didn ’ t use the precise language to communicate it , and many concerns ended up routed to the traditional call centres ,” says Faisal Abbasi , Managing Director Western & Southern Europe , MEA & LATAM , Amelia , an IPsoft