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How Will ChatGPT Affect Customer Service?

It’s still early in the year, but we can probably already list conversational AI, especially ChatGPT, as one of the buzziest topics of 2023 so far. ChatGPT, a model of GPT (generative pre-trained transformer) has become one of the most popular apps, with 13 million people downloading the app in January 2023 alone. Among other capabilities, these generative models can emulate human conversations and even mimic the writings of long-dead historical figures. 

While there is worry about what ChatGPT will mean for students trying to cut corners on their coursework and how this technology will affect white-collar jobs, brands are also figuring out how this conversational AI can be put to work in their daily operations. More specifically, how can ChatGPT be applied to customer service operations, such as call centers, self-service, and other customer engagement needs? 

Adapting ChatGPT to Business Operations

In order for AI to be ready for adoption by businesses across the board, it will have to evolve past beyond just being able to ‘talk’ about business-related topics in general terms. To be effective, this technology needs to be fully versed in how businesses operate– what terms are used, the context in which to use them, and understand how those terms drive decisions within organizations. 

AI might be exciting to experiment with and is promising in the possibilities for its applications, but it isn’t an all-encompassing solution for customer service yet.  Because of the pre-training aspect of ChatGPT, it can only process and work with whatever basic information it has been programmed with. There isn’t much allowance for nuance, which is important where customer service and customer experience are concerned. The technology will be able to generate sentences and explanations that are general in nature and maybe even address the needs of some customers, but it may seem largely incomplete in comparison to an interaction with a human agent. 

AI technology can easily make conversation, but it is not able to deliver accurate information that is specific to a brand’s company when it is tasked with handling a more complex business interaction. And it will not be trained to deal with the specifics of any individual business, nor would it be able to answer questions related to products and services such as customer warranty claims. A situation where the wrong information is given to a customer or is received incorrectly could lead to a disastrous result, such as money being deposited into the wrong account, for instance. In a circumstance like that, customers will likely not be more forgiving because it was a chatbot that made the mistake and not a live agent. 

5 Benefits of Using AI and ChatGPT for Customer Service

• Quick Response Time: Chatbots and smart virtual assistants are fast, intuitive, and can keep up with an ever-growing demand for customer service. They are able to answer questions instantly and adapt to different languages.

• 24/7 Availability: Time is precious, and when a customer has a question or an issue they wanted to be resolved, they want it addressed immediately, regardless of the hour of the day (or night). Chatbots open more channels to serve the customer, and those channels come at a much lower cost. 

• Personalization: By authenticating customers, the chatbot is able to give personalized data like available discounts, products and services already purchased, and give the status of outstanding orders. There is also a detailed history of issues that were handed by other agents on behalf of the customer, allowing for a more personalized experience. 

• Monitor Data and Gather Customer Insights: Chatbots are good at monitoring data and getting insights into customer habits. Better yet, you can tell the bot what metrics to track, customer engagement, user satisfaction, and customer purchasing habits. This method is easier and allows companies to make quicker and more accurate decisions based on the data they collect. 

• Multilingual Communication: Bots that are programmed to communicate in multiple languages are ideal for companies that operate in various markets. The chatbot can either ask the user which language they prefer to use or depending on the country from which the customer is corresponding, the communication will automatically be set in that region’s language. 

As the future of ChatGPT and chatbots continues to evolve, this technology will play an increasingly important role in in how companies interact with and serve their customers. But it will also be important for brands to be thoughtful in how they navigate the challenges and limitations of the use of chatbots in customer service. 

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