When customers want something, they usually want it NOW. The major reason for the loss of customers is dissatisfaction with customer service which primarily hinges on delayed feedback, inattentive serve reps, or late replies. For these reasons, the AI chatbot is quickly turning into a prominent feature for many customer service departments. Companies across all kinds of industries have shown that they are more than willing to let those programs handle customer service tasks.
In the coming years, chatbots will likely become more widely utilized. They are getting better by the day and there is no reason for companies to shy away from using them. Simply put, AI chatbots are here to stay. As we look forward to a future populated with more chatbots, we wanted to take this time to pause and look at the bigger picture.
We wanted to examine how we got to this point in terms of heeding clients’ demands and how chatbots are currently being utilized today to help companies provide exemplary service to customers and help them attain client loyalty. We also want to take a peek at our crystal ball and see how AI chatbots in the Philippines and other parts of the world will be integrated into businesses even further. Join us as we take a look at the past, present, and future of the AI chatbot.
The Evolution of the AI Chatbot
Before we look at where the chatbot is today and predict how it will develop, let’s first discuss its fascinating origins. For us to examine how it can further develop in the future, we have to study its grassroots. Today, many of us take chatbots and other products of AI technology for granted simply because they are commonplace. We hardly ever think about how remarkable they are because they are so closely connected to our daily routine as seen in our SMART TVs, watches, mobile devices, Alexa, etc.
However, decades ago, this reality we’re living in now would’ve seemed like pure fiction. Or at least it would’ve seemed that way to a majority of the population. Case in point, many of the gadgets in the 80’s Michael J. Fox’s Back to the Future Movie like video conferencing or ordering via tablet were thought of as far-fetched back then. But today, these technologies are being used all the time.
Of course, even if there were people who saw these developments as impossible to attain, there are those who saw things differently. Alan Turing is one of those revolutionary thinkers that paved the way for changes in this industry.
Alan Turing, a Founding Father of Artificial Intelligence
Alan Mathison Turing was a British mathematician whose works collectively impacted the worlds of mathematics, philosophy, and logic. Turing also became famous for his work as a codebreaker and his contributions to cognitive science. He may not have known it at the time, but Turing’s work would also be critical to the development of fields such as artificial intelligence and computer science.
Turing helped advance the world of computing by designing the first complete specification of an electronic-stored program all-purpose digital computer, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. After his move to the University of Manchester, Turing helped develop the institution’s computer project. He was mainly responsible for honing the computer’s input-output system.
Moreover, his grasp of advanced technology also allowed him to author the very first programming manual. Consequently, his influence became evident in the first electronic digital computer that hit the market. Today, his contributions to the field of computer science are enormous. Sadly, many people don’t know about his merits and they are dwarfed by what he did for artificial intelligence. The results he painstakingly worked hard to achieve are enjoyed by today’s modern citizens, but they don’t know how these developments came into existence. Turing’s unique perspective on computing technology and the human mind inspired him to develop a process that became known as the Turing Test.
The Turing Test
One of Turing’s greatest contributions to the field of artificial intelligence is the Turing Test. The goal of the Turing Test is to determine if a computer is capable of thinking the same way a human being does.
During the test, one person asks questions while another person and a computer will respond. After the responses are given, the person asking the question must then choose who is the actual person and which one is the computer.
The test is done multiple times using a variety of questions. If it turns out that the person asking the question misidentified the respondents more than half of the time, then the computer is considered to be artificially intelligent. After all, having difficulties determining the real person from the computer indicates that the latter is doing a good job mimicking a functional human brain with the ability to think, reason, and discern.
Even though this concept is relatively simple by today’s standards, the Turing Test still made a large impact on the development of artificial intelligence. It effectively served as a way for computer scientists to study AI talking and response back then. Without the information those tests provided, artificial intelligence may not be where it is today.
Early AI Bots
Moving things forward a bit, let’s now turn our attention to the ancestors of the chatbot services that we use today. Let’s start with the AI bot known as ELIZA. ELIZA was the creation of computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum. It was a program that mainly relied on scripts and pattern matching to provide responses to user prompts.
The interesting thing about ELIZA is that its responses would change based on which script it used. You could basically change its chatbot AI by using a different script.
Not long after the emergence of ELIZA, psychiatrist Kenneth Colby would also come out with PARRY. PARRY was more advanced than ELIZA, and it used a strategy to converse with people.
Both ELIZA and PARRY were among the first AI programs that underwent the Turing Test and attempted to expound on their capabilities. Moreover, the two programs even engaged in AI chat. You can see the interesting results of those conversations in this article from The Atlantic.
The AI Chatbot Becomes a Practical Tool
For much of their early life, AI chatbots weren’t really used that much in daily applications. It was interesting to see them mimic how humans responded to questions, but there wasn’t much practical use for that. They only shined in testing and research laboratories.
However, all of that started to change as the 2000s brought about a new wave of technology. To be more specific, mobile phones became game-changers in terms of how people communicated and accessed information. Smartphones, in particular, gave people an opportunity to access information without being stuck at their desks.
By the mid-2000s, smartphones were all over the place and businesses were in a rush to adjust and cater their services to them. They needed a way to stay connected to those consumers and creating mobile-friendly websites was their answer.
Unsurprisingly, early iterations of mobile websites were not exactly user-friendly. Getting everything on screen was a struggle, and it was tough for users to get the information they needed quickly.
This is where the AI bots came in. Chatbot services provided users with an easy way to obtain the information they were looking for. You didn’t have to fumble around with the mobile site for too long because the chatbot was there to deliver the details you needed.
That kind of AI bot was a far cry from the ones we see today, but it remained useful, nonetheless. It also laid the foundation down for newer iterations that could prove even more helpful.
Chatbot AI Goes Mainstream
You may not have realized it, but the AI chatbot has likely become a fixture inside your home. Amazon’s Alexa is a prime example of that. Engaging in a short conversation with Alexa is a requirement if you want to make use of its services.
Chances are that you’ve already made use of Alexa more than a few times. You can consider those interactions as AI conversations.
But Alexa is not the only AI bot that we interact with on a regular basis. If you have an Apple smartphone, you’ve probably sought Siri’s assistance at some point. Just like Alexa, Siri is also powered by artificial intelligence.
Not to be outdone, Google has its own AI-powered virtual assistant. The aptly named Google Assistant is mainly featured in Android smartphones. Now you can sift through your contact list or Google Search information with voice prompts using your mic.
Chatbot AI accounts have also made their way to social media. Numerous corporate accounts on social networking apps utilize AI to address customer concerns. You can initiate a conversation with an AI bot and receive answers to frequently asked questions. These bots could also point you to blog articles or video links that answer your concerns.
We are now at a point in history where a conversational AI chatbot is far from an oddity. Chatbots are programs we interact with all the time now. They aren’t going away anytime soon either. Clearly, the era of the AI chatbot is upon us and it won’t be going away anytime soon.
Enhancing Customer Support with the Help of Chatbots
Businesses have always been at the forefront of adopting chatbot technology. That’s evident in the fact that many businesses all over the world have modified their services by integrating more chatbot features into their operations. You’ve probably even noticed some businesses operating locally that have helped boost the presence of chatbots in the Philippines.
Still, you may be wondering why so many industry leaders have embraced AI chatbots so openly. What is it about the AI chatbot that they find so appealing and why has adoption seemingly become widespread in such a short amount of time?
To put it simply, businesses have become more reliant on chatbots because they improve efficiency. They are particularly useful for improving customer service, an area where many businesses can be hit or miss.
Don’t just take our word for it. Detailed below are some specific examples of how a conversational AI chatbot can provide a valuable boost to a business.
1.Speed Up Your Customer Support
How many times have you called a company hotline only to be put on hold for the next 20 minutes? This number of minutes may even be too few because some companies are notorious for hotline queues that can last for up to an hour. Imagine wasting your time listening to “on hold music” or other company information as you wait for a customer service rep to attend to your needs.
If not, you’ve probably experienced what it’s like to be frustrated by slow email responses. After sending an email inquiry on Monday, you may not receive a response until Wednesday. Even when you do get the response, it may not contain the information you need.
The entire experience of trying to start a conversation with a company can be incredibly frustrating. That’s not an issue business owners can just ignore. Once your company develops a reputation for handling customer service poorly, you’ll have a hard time shaking that off. You can expect to lose customers if that kind of thing happens because you tarnish your reputation and lose your credibility.
Relying on an AI chatbot is one way to effectively fix that problem. By using a chatbot to strengthen your customer service system, you will be able to field more concerns within a shorter amount of time. Since many customer queries are about the same few topics, you can design a bot that can answer them quickly. You may even be able to eliminate the FAQ page on your website that is rarely ever used.
2.Filter Customer Queries
Chatbots improve customer service not just by answering questions directly. They are also useful because they allow you to prioritize certain customer inquiries over others.
Since the chatbot connected to your customer service system can already handle simple inquiries, it will only leave behind the more complex concerns. Basically, the chatbot can act as a filter that way. The customer concerns that it doesn’t filter out are the ones that demand more immediate attention. Now, you can assign customer service representatives to address those concerns directly.
It’s great to have the chatbot working in that capacity because it makes your entire system more efficient. Human employees can be more productive and responsive. As a result, your customers will be satisfied because their concerns are attended to faster.
3. Help Customers Feel Heard
Customers with complaints or questions are more prone to frustration because they feel like they aren’t being heard. If they don’t get a response right away, they may think that the company is acting that way because it already has their money and no longer prioritizes after-sales care. It’s hard to blame clients for thinking that way especially if they’ve had some bad experiences dealing with customer service in the past.
So, how will an AI chatbot help with that? One of the best features of AI bots is that they are always ready to respond. Give them a prompt at any time and they will offer an appropriate response as long as they were programmed correctly.
You can use that feature of AI-powered chatbots to improve your customer service. Now that you have a chatbot to lean on, you can provide all your customers with quick responses whenever they submit a question. They will no longer feel like they are yelling into the void when they try to get in touch with your company.
Depending on how you design your chatbot, you can even provide answers to some questions immediately. Providing that kind of customer service experience will definitely lead to consumers developing a better opinion of your company. Since they feel prioritized, it will foster brand loyalty.
4.Provide Important Reminders
We’re all busy these days. From the moment you wake up, you may already have things you must attend to immediately. That’s just the lifestyle many of us have grown accustomed to in this fast-paced, modern world.
Because of how packed your schedule is, you may forget about certain things. For instance, you may have forgotten about that important delivery that is scheduled for today. In your rush to get on with your day, you failed to notify the driver or anyone in your household. That likely means you’ll have to wait at least one more day before you get your package.
An AI chatbot can help save your customers from that kind of problem. Program your chatbot so it sends a reminder to your customers whenever they have pending deliveries. You can even program it to provide important details along with the reminder.
You can also design the chatbot to send reminders through popular messaging apps. That way, you can ensure that your customers will always see the reminders.
5.Offer Tracking Updates
Let’s continue to build on how chatbots can be useful for deliveries. This time around, we’ll highlight how they can be used to improve tracking.
When customers give you their money during a sale, they want immediate and consistent information to ascertain you’ll be able to deliver what they paid for. Customers understandably want frequent tracking updates because they want to know exactly when their order will arrive. By knowing their order’s date of arrival, your customer can plan out their day or even their week around it.
Many digital storefronts do provide tracking services, but they are often sparsely detailed. The site may list where your package is at a certain point in time, but that’s about it.
Chatbots can go beyond that if they are used for tracking purposes. Apart from helping you send an immediate order update email, you can also use the chatbot to provide more accurate location data to your customers.
The chatbot can even provide regular tracking updates so the customers are aware of where their package is without having to open the website. Just make sure you include an unsubscribe feature so customers who don’t want those updates can opt out.
6.Chatbots Can Handle Returns
As a business owner, it’s your job to make sure that the products that reach your customers are always in line with what they ordered. Customers expect to get what they paid for. Period. Those products should also arrive in pristine condition.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. A website glitch or encoder error may have led to the wrong details being uploaded for a specific order. Instead of receiving black running shoes, your customers may get shoes that are colored blue.
Moreover, during transit, the shoes may also sustain damage. The damage could be a result of the delivery personnel handling the package carelessly.
As a result, your customer will justifiably be unhappy if the item they receive is not exactly like what they ordered on your website. Since you already have an unhappy customer, the last thing you want is to frustrate them further by providing shoddy customer service.
Avoid that potential problem by using an AI chatbot. Set up an AI chatbot that can handle customer returns. At this point, your clients will be irate so they want an immediate response to the problem. Hence, you must design the AI in a way that it can efficiently process returns if the wrong items were delivered to your customers.
If the issue is not something your company was directly responsible for, you can program the chatbot to send that complaint to a customer service representative. Let the representative talk to the customer directly so the matter can be sorted out.
Processing returns can be bothersome for customers and a significant drain on your resources. Improve the way your company handles returns by relying on more chatbots.
Will AI Chatbots Replace Conventional Customer Support?
Finding companies that utilize AI chatbots in Manila is not that difficult. Business owners in the country are well aware of the benefits provided by chatbots and they have not shied away from using them.
If you currently work for a company that is increasing its usage of chatbots, you may be feeling a bit worried. You’re likely concerned that an AI-powered program is going to take your job.
Those concerns are fairly common, but are they warranted? Let’s find out the answer to that question by discussing the chatbot’s role within the customer support department.
Chatbots Cannot Perform the Specialized Functions of a Customer Service Representative
Chatbots are growing more sophisticated by the day. Their usefulness improves as we update them with more data.
However, there are still certain instances wherein a chatbot cannot do what a human representative can. There are certain cases wherein the concerns of the customer are so particular that no chatbot can help them. A human customer rep will have to jump in and address the concern directly to satisfy the clients.
For promotional purposes, chatbots can recommend products based on a customer’s preferences but they won’t be able to sell those items properly. A human customer representative will still be better at selling products compared to AI programs. Even the best AI chatbot cannot be a direct replacement for a skilled representative. Although AI is very helpful, nothing can compensate for the human touch.
Chatbots Help Companies Use Their Resources Better
Look back at the common applications for chatbots in the customer service system that we highlighted earlier. You’ll notice those applications represent the basics of customer support. They account for the mindless and redundant tasks that representatives have to handle.
Truthfully, your employees deserve better than to be saddled with those dull and repetitive tasks. You hired them because they are highly skilled so let them show what they can do by giving them more specialized tasks. Leave the grunt work to the chatbots so your employees can focus on more complex issues and become more productive.
Chatbots Can Beef Up Your Workforce’s Capabilities
The biggest challenge for small business owners is getting their enterprise off the ground. With limited funds to work with, small business owners may not be able to get all the pieces of equipment they need. They may also have to give up something when it comes to hiring people.
Because of a staffing shortage, even the skilled workers at a small company may need to handle mind-numbing tasks. Bear in mind that you don’t want your best employees using their time that way. Ideally, you want them working on tasks that can help speed up the growth of your business.
Fortunately, chatbots can help them accomplish that. Program the chatbot to handle the tasks that don’t require any kind of expertise so your skilled employees can focus on more important matters. You can maintain that setup for good or just keep it until you’re able to hire more people.
The AI-powered chatbot has come a long way in a relatively short period of time and it is slated to develop in even more exciting ways. Businesses cannot afford to ignore this technological breakthrough any longer. If you still aren’t using chatbots to improve your company’s services, the time is right for you to change that. Talk to us today to learn more about how a chatbot can boost your business!