The world seems awash with chatbots these days, with even conservative industries like banking turning to them as an interface between themselves and the customer.  Of course, it’s far from certain that just because the technology (kind of) exists that we should turn wholesale to AI to deliver customer service.

Indeed, a number of studies have suggested that we’re incredible unforgiving of poor support when it’s an automated device that’s doing the customer service.

Automated support

Earlier this year I wrote about a start-up, called Assist.AI, that attempts to use AI to support customer service staff rather than replace them.  They take a query and mine the database of past answers to similar queries to thus help the staff provide a faster and hopefully more accurate response.

A similar move has been made by a MIT backed start-up called Cogito.  They work on the premise that call center work can be mentally draining for staff, resulting in poor quality answers given to queries, and therefore unhappy customers.

Analyzing the conversation

The software works by analyzing the flow of the conversation between the support staff and the customer.  The system then attempts to provide the employee with real-time advice on how they can improve the conversation so that the customer is satisfied.

For instance, they may alter the speed of their speech so it more reflects that of the customer, or change their language in response to the emotions of the customer.  Indeed, the system even makes it easier for supervisors to step in should an extra level of authority be required to smooth a conversation.

Each conversation is stored on the system to make it easier for staff to hone their skills by listening back to past conversations alongside input from trainers or more experienced colleagues.

With so much fear about AI removing the need for human workers, it’s another interesting example of how it can instead augment what we do.  Check out the video below for more on Cogito.