Have you woken up in a cold sweat wondering if your new smart toaster is going to team up with the washing machine to take over your house? It sounds fanciful, but thanks to too many sci-fi movies, some people do have a genuine fear of artificial intelligence. We don’t expect Terminators to be roaming the earth any time soon, but there’s another genuine fear people have surrounding AI. Job losses.
Most major technological advancements tend to disrupt the workforce in some way, so this is a reasonable concern to have. But before you start hatching a plan to bring down the machines, let’s take a look at the realities of AI chatbots vs humans.
Start the conversationBasic bots vs full AI chatbots
Firstly, we should discuss the difference between basic website chatbots and full artificial intelligence bots.
Most website chatbots still have certain limitations. They provide information, guide customers through certain questions and deliver answers. While they still incorporate an element of AI, they don’t have the machine learning capabilities of their more evolved cousins.
A fully capable AI chatbot learns over time. It has better capability to understand language and works on a conversational interface. These super-bots can perform a range of tasks without being prompted too directly, like searching online for information, prices, and even processing orders/transactions.
Where do humans come in?
Chatbots are great for a whole range of tasks, such as gathering and providing information and managing basic transactions. In terms of nurturing customers towards sales and improving their online experience, chatbots are a terrific investment. Ultimately, an AI chatbot is an automation tool. It takes mundane, manual tasks away from humans and handles them with technology.
That doesn’t mean humans are obsolete. Far from it. Even on the most basic level, a chatbot doesn’t take the job of a human, rather it allows that human to do other, more important work. For example, we’ve always said that sales staff aren’t great at admin (a generalisation, sure, but not untrue!) So, rather than waste your sales team’s time answering basic questions, keep them available for successfully closing deals.
Self-service doesn’t replace customer service
AI chatbots are known as a form of website self-service, because that’s exactly what they provide. But basic information gathering and interactions aren’t all a customer is looking for. As humans, we love digital convenience but also need human connections.
To provide a complete customer service experience, you still need a good balance of human and digital. Let the machines handle basic enquiries, and let your skilled customer support staff deal with escalated issues.
So, we’re pretty confident that humans and AI chatbots can work hand in hand. In fact, we’ve just asked our developers to stop working on building those time-travelling cyborgs for now. At least they’ve now got plenty of time to help with your AI chatbot needs, so if you think we can help, contact us today.
Start the conversationAbout Author
