Artificial intelligence has been around for some time now. However, only recently have more brands and consumers started to use them for interactions with one another.
In fact, most consumers might not realize they’ve been utilizing AI.
One person that is more than familiar with AI is that of Tim Hayden. Tim Hayden is a seasoned marketing professional and an avid investor in tech startups. Tim works closely with startups to help them capitalize on opportunities – including the use of AI and chatbots.
Have You Been Using AI This Whole Time?
You might be surprised how long you have been using artificial intelligence without knowing it.
Tim points out Siri and Cortana as primary examples. Both of these come on your smartphone or computer, and they are a form of artificial intelligence. You can pose a question, and their built-in analytical software takes the appropriate answer from pre-programmed responses.
What makes AI special is that it can learn from a response. While it is designed to answer the basic questions from customers, it understands a consumer’s response and navigates through the conversation with ease.
Providing Information on the Web
AI is unique.
Not only does it have pre-programmed answers and the ability to detect questions, but when it doesn’t know the answer, it searches Wikipedia, Google, and other engines to find it. Think of Siri on your iPhone. You ask Siri a question, and she searches the internet and provides you with links that have answers.
Sometimes, she will recite an answer if she finds it based on the keywords.
Online Chat and Customer Service: Real or AI?
When you converse with a company through their online chat option or a chatbot via Facebook, who are you talking to?
Most of the time, you are speaking with AI and not a human customer service agent. Tim points out how travel websites use artificial intelligence to help clients navigate the site and plan their trip. Other e-commerce sites also use chatbots to help their customers find the products they need without having to take a client service representative away from the phone lines.
Most consumers use artificial intelligence daily, but they don’t realize it.
Why?
Tim says it is because these chatbots are smart, efficient, and act like humans but are computers generating answers.
When you submit an inquiry on a website, you might notice that you are redirected to the company’s Facebook and a messenger chat opens. In this instance, the company has opted to redirect communications to a chatbot on Facebook.
The benefit to doing so is that businesses can answer questions for consumers who are shopping out of the regular business hours. Also, international customers can still receive help regardless of what time it is in the United States. Not only does it expand the company’s customer service reach, but it gives you, the consumer, access to help regardless of the time of day.
Tim Hayden is the leading expert in AI and chatbots for customer service and marketing. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter @TheTimHayden or visit his website Brain+Trust Partners to learn more about technology that expands a business’s reach.
