You've no doubt been hearing a lot about ChatGPT lately. In short, it is a generative artificial intelligence solution, a category of AI that can generate unique and original content, such as text, images, and even entire virtual environments. It is trained to do this by feeding it a large set of sample data.
Customer Service teams have already been impacted by generative AI in limited situations. Auto-complete in texting, email, documents, or Microsoft Teams messages is a form of generative AI. The GPT model is taking this to an entirely new level, generating large volumes of text faster and better than humans can in many cases.
Microsoft recently announced the integration of ChatGPT into its Dynamics 365 Customer Service application. Other vendors are rapidly following suit with their own generative AI solutions.
Here are 4 areas where generative AI is already starting to impact customer service teams and where you can expect significant strides over the next year or two.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is the foundation of customer service, and generative AI is going to transform it more rapidly than almost any area.
At its core, ChatGPT is adept at consuming enormous amounts of data, with more than 175 billion parameters in its language model. Pointing it at the knowledge contained in customer service solutions, including knowledge libraries, FAQs, email replies, transcribed calls, product documentation, order history, shipping information, and more, means it can answer questions with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
It might not always be perfect, but customer service personnel will quickly begin to think of ChatGPT as their assistant. They will spend far less time searching knowledge bases and reviewing suggested knowledge articles. They will simply ask their AI assistant and an answer will be provided. They will only need to review it for accuracy and tweak it prior to sharing it with customers.
Omnichannel Response
Once ChatGPT has consumed organizational knowledge, it can be made available beyond just a knowledge management system. Customer service agents will increasingly have knowledge proactively provided by AI in real time while interacting with customers.
As soon as information comes in via email, text, chat, or phone, solutions and voice prompts will be suggested in real time. And, as you can already see in the Bing integration, sources will be quoted and linked so reps can more easily find the supporting information, check facts, and respond to customers more quickly. And these suggested answers are more personalized based on the context of the customer relationship, resulting in solutions that better align to the specific needs of a situation rather than cookie-cutter responses pasted from a knowledge base.
Chatbots
Chatbots feel a lot like ChatGPT. But most chatbots are built using rules rather than machine learning. Solutions like ChatGPT will make it possible to build chatbots in a more automated fashion by pointing them to a source of knowledge and allowing them to build rules to interact with customers. Human augmentation of these bots will likely be required to continue to refine the quality of the machine learning and provide more useful, accurate and relevant solutions to customers.
Self-Service Portals
Most modern customer self-service portals include basic capabilities to assist users searching a knowledge base to reduce the number of issues submitted that already have solutions. Chatbots will take this to an entirely new level, with solutions immediately recommended based on recent transactions, based on Q&A rather than searches, and throughout the ticket submission process. Customers will get more relevant answers to more questions, faster than ever before.
So what does this mean for customer service agents? As with any innovation, there is always some concern that it might result in workforce reductions. In most cases, this will not be the case. Here are a few reasons for that:
- AI is a support, not a replacement. Generative AI is not yet ready to replace humans, but it can make humans significantly more efficient and productive. Microsoft has rightly branded its ChatGPT integration with Dynamics 365 Customer Service as Copilot. Additionally, AI does not always produce complete or accurate answers to every question; humans are still important to make sure customers receive a quality experience and are the source of new knowledge.
- Customer service teams are understaffed. Generative AI means the same teams can deliver service faster, with a better customer experience, without having to add staff.
- Expertise is unleashed. Customer service personnel are often consumed with responding to issues that don't require a human. Resolutions to common issues, order status, and other data-based research can be shifted to AI, freeing customer service personnel to conduct deeper research into issue that take more time, creativity, and human problem-solving.
Get Started Now
The future is here. If you're not already experimenting with ChatGPT and checking out the solutions offered by your customer service software vendors, then you're falling behind. Start by visiting chat.openai.com and spend a bit of time playing around to start to develop a sense for how this might work in your organization.
By automating routine tasks, providing personalized service, and analyzing customer data, generative AI will improve efficiency, drive revenue, and enhance the overall customer experience. As businesses continue to prioritize customer satisfaction and loyalty, the type of functionality that Microsoft is building into Dynamics 365 through ChatGPT integration will provide a competitive advantage.
Geoff Ables is managing partner of C5 Insight. He can be reached at geoff.ables@c5insight.com.