The robots are here.
Okay, they’ve actually been here for a while now. But lately it’s hard to avoid the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and the newest game-changing tools it’s made available to every person and business around the globe with internet access.
If you still don’t know what ChatGPT is, think of Google — except it talks back to you and can pass the Bar Exam. And it might be one of the biggest disruptive innovations the world has seen in long time.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is the latest AI-powered chatbot from OpenAI that is trained to follow a specific instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response. ChatGPT (the “GPT” standing for “Generative Pre-training Transformer”)interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.
While OpenAI’s latest model is helpful tool for basically anyone trying to optimise their information search (sorry, high school teachers), it can also be leveraged by businesses to streamline certain processes and help operations run smoother overall.
What is ChatGPT capable of?
ChatGPT hasn’t been revered by everyone though. Like many AI-driven technologies, ChatGPT wide range of applications and impressively accurate responses have stoked fear in many people with jobs that can be [somewhat] replicated by it.
NBC reports that, “80% of Americans will have at least 10% of their job impacted by generative processing transformer or language models like ChatGPT from OpenAI.
It’s important to note that “impacted” is much different than “replaced”. You won’t see massive layoffs due to a robot takeover, instead you’ll see people utilising AI tools like ChatGPT to save time on tedious tasks and searching for information to enable them to be more strategic and forward-thinking in their every-day jobs.
Customer service is a perfect example of this. So much of Customer Service teams’ most time- and energy-consuming tasks can be aided by ChatCPT’s ability to quickly and accurately find information.
How can the modern day B2B Customer Service teams harness this technology?
Around-the clock access: The platform can be available to customers 24/7, making it easier to address customer needs for businesses that operate outside of normal hours.
Cost-effective assistance: ChatGPT can help Customer Service teams keep up with demand influxes without having to add headcount or other resources.
Faster responses: ChatGPT can help speed up response time by addressing routine customer inquiries quickly.
- Automatic language translation: ChatGPT can be used to assist a wider range of customers in different languages.
- Inquiry triage: ChatGPT can be trained to understand and classify the sentiment of customer inquiries, making them easier to classify and route to the right person or even respond on its own in an appropriate manner.
- Potential for personalised responses: OpenAI is already developing the next version of ChatGPT, meaning more possibilities and opportunities are already on their way. By training with specific customer data, it has the potential to generate tailored responses for individual customers.
A case for ChatGPT in customer service
A common challenge that faces today’s Customer Service teams is the rotating responsibility that requires an individual to play air traffic controller and categorise and flag all of emails that arrive in the shared customer service inbox. These inbound customer inquiries include updates on delivery statuses, questions about availability, and requests for copies of invoices and other documents.
Let’s take a look at a recent example:
Casey tasked with reducing churn and improving repeat orders from customers. She planned to accomplish this by improving customer satisfaction metrics through proactive service and cart abandonment outreach. The problem was that her people were just barely keeping their heads above water with the existing flood of emails from customers. 33% of these emails required a basic lookup into SAP® and populating a templated response.
Casey’s vision was to reallocate 1/3 of her team’s time towards proactively reaching out to customers and lowering the turnaround time for quote requests.
Enter ChatGPT.
Casey could leverage ChatGPT to classify and respond to routine customer inquiries to allow her customer service reps to finally keep up with the current rate of incoming emails, dedicate more time to reaching out to customers, and even free up enough time for them to focus on more value-added tasks. By enabling her team to work smarter, they can now offer customers a more personalised experience and improve overall customer satisfaction.
The limitations of ChatGPT
ChatGPT might be able to test into Harvard Law, but passing the Bar Exam doesn’t require having a conversation with a human being. As far as providing an excellent customer experience, this super-smart chatbot still has its shortcomings.
Inability to personalise: Because the current ChatGPT model lacks personalisation capabilities, it can lead to a less satisfactory customer experience.
Limited capabilities: More complex or nuanced customer inquiries and may require human intervention to finish tasks or resolve issues.
More room for errors: ChatGPT is not a perfect system and is prone to making mistakes or provide incorrect information that may lead to customer confusion or frustration.
To use, or not use…
This is just the beginning of the ChatGPT discussion. AI-powered tools are being used in new situations every day, and there are no signs of this trend slowing anytime soon. While many organisations are optimistic about ChatGPT’s potential, a lot are still fearful about letting such “futuristic” technology through their doors. Will your business embrace it or reject it? Will you craft a new strategy or power ahead with the status quo? Leave your thoughts in the comments! Contact us to learn more!
-Written by, Taylor Bucher