The future of Artificial Intelligence in customer ser vice

By Tim Morris, Managing Director, Cymphony

How will you know if you’re dealing with a robot or a human being? That sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it? Because, let’s be honest, its blatantly obvious when you’re interacting with a pre-prog rammed chatbot on your device or even speaking to one Hello Siri, Alexa and the numerous infuriating “Let me connect you to an agent” recording loops out there. But for how much longer will that be the case?

Ar tif icial Intelligence (AI) integ ration will become much more sophisticated and mainstream in the coming months and years What was once the stuff of science f iction could well become a reality before the star t of the next decade

And whilst the early applications of AI are primarily adver tised around creation of content, imager y and coding, the use of this technology in customer ser vice is well wor th considering – and not just from the perspective of being the customer either

For business owners, AI has the potential to transfor m the way in which inbound communications are handled Increased volumes, reduced costs and operational eff iciencies could be on the horizon if executed properly.

It’s wor th noting that the chatbots we all love to hate in the here and now aren’t powered by AI They are r ule-based prog rammes which operate by following pre-prog rammed workflows, retur ning set answers to keywords and questions

They can’t lear n from their interactions, and it’s why we often end up in fr ustrating chat loops, getting nowhere fast

Occasionally you may interact with a web chat function which does utilise conversational AI – these systems can lear n from their experiences via a process known as Machine Lear ning and provide a more ‘user-friendly’ experience by implementing Natural Language Processing At present, neither option is a match for a conversation with a real person – something which, at Cymphony, we know all too well

But that could all change The news is increasingly full of headlines about Ar tif icial General Intelligence (AGI) being not decades but only a matter of a few years away Latest predictions brought the achievement down to as soon as 2026

AGI is the state in which a machine possesses human-like cognitive ability. The concept of sentient machines is something that rightly fascinates and/or ter rif ies pretty much anyone you speak to. Whether it’s a debate about ethics or a frantic r ush to tr y and legislate a technology that is evolving exponentially, AI is, and will remain, a hot topic.

But for many, including senior management and heads of large organisations – that goes for franchisors too – the subject is something of a myster y Now that’s frightening Sceptic or suppor ter, there’s no halting the march of evolution and the prog ress of this technology In the meantime, the synergy of AI and our existing technology is where the possibilities are really taking shape.

Take a standard customer ser vice enquir y for example Conceivably, in the not-too-distant future, web chat functions will interface with an AI chatbot – something like ChatGPT,

“For business owners, AI has the potential to transform the way in which inbound communications are handled. Increased volumes, reduced costs and operational efficiencies could be on the horizon if executed properly

About the author

Tim Morris is the Managing Director of Cymphony, the inbound communications specialist He is a franchise professional with decades of experience across sales, customer care, operations and compliance

From leading the expansion of an international franchise brand to heading up the suppor t functions of both national and international franchisors, Morris has been instrumental in the growth of hundreds of franchisees

His proven success record comes with a passion for ‘360 business development’, and his unique perspective empowers franchisors and franchisees alike to get the ver y best from their par tnership tim.morris@cymphony.co.uk www.cymphony.co.uk