Tag Archive for: self-learning

How does V-Person™ compare to the latest AI media hype?

By the Creative Virtual Team

If there’s one thing media outlets love reporting on today, it’s artificial intelligence. Activities ranging from defeating chess masters to driving cars without human input are hailed as the next frontier of technology, or the downfall of humanity, depending on who you ask.

All the media bluster about the innovative things that AI can do ignores one key element for enterprise clients: customer communication. Our virtual assistant customer service solution learns how to talk to customers and solve their problems while also taking into account the context of each interaction.

The lost art of AI conversation

Artificial intelligence from companies like Google and IBM has made headlines for doing things like painting, researching diseases and analyzing the work of famous artists and athletes. These are all noble pursuits that add value to our world in their own ways, but they aren’t contributing to business goals.

To do that, you must consider the experience of your customers. Many enterprises looking to implement virtual assistant solutions for customer service fail to understand the most important element of successful customer support.

The content transfer misconception

Imagine training a new customer support agent recently hired at your company. Would you just hand them a thick company knowledge database with thousands of articles and tell them to learn how to transfer this information to customers?

Of course not. You would train the agent on the different channels your customers use, how to interact with customers at different stages, and how to deal with some of the most common problems. You would also teach them how to stay consistent with your company’s voice, to ensure that customer experiences are both helpful and memorable. The actual support data is just one part of the broader picture of customer service.

The same idea holds true for an AI-based virtual agent. Our virtual assistant doesn’t just take content from your company’s existing knowledgebase and transfer it to customers. It also considers how your customers interact: what mood they are in, which platforms they use to seek help, what type of issues they’ve had in the past, how agents have handled those issues, and so on.

Don’t let AI hype influence your customer experience

Sophisticated artificial intelligence is important, but for effective customer service, it must do more than just receive an input and output a certain answer. The answer to a customer’s inquiry is the foundation upon which V-Person creates a conversational experience that is also influenced by the nature of the inquiry, the customer’s status, and the voice of your brand.

As the leader in virtual customer service, Creative Virtual specializes in the science of conversation. Sign up for a free demonstration here.

Does V-Person™ Customer Service Technology Self-Learn?

By the Creative Virtual Team

Artificial intelligence is a popular technology, used today for everything from diagnosing breast cancer to completing levels of Super Mario World. A big catalyst in the advancement of this technology is the concept of self-learning, which allows AI to autonomously improve decision-making to achieve desired outcomes.

Self-learning is a valuable component of our V-Person customer engagement solution, but it alone doesn’t make our platform a cutting-edge tool for customer service.

Why self-learning is not the ultimate goal for customer experience solutions

Customer service platforms are designed to do just that: serve the customer. Self-learning technology in fields like art and music is free to continuously iterate upon what it has learned, which makes it possible for AI to paint and create music. Continual improvement in this manner is valuable and helps push the field of AI forward.

Customer engagement platforms share this ability to self-learn and iterate, but apply it only within the context of helping people. Because they are used as a front-facing communication option, AI virtual assistants must be periodically monitored and adjusted by real humans, to ensure its messaging stays consistent.

Applying self-learning for a great customer experience

In March of 2016, Microsoft pulled the plug on its “Tay” Twitter bot, after it began tweeting profane, racist statements and professing its support for Adolf Hitler.

This is an example of unbridled self-learning, which is not the goal for any effective customer service platform. Instead, self-learning should be applied to functional tasks that help customers find what they need in a prompt, intelligent manner. A few examples of this kind of self-learning include:

  • Determining what type of product or service a customer has and offering them customized solutions based on that knowledge
  • Checking a customer’s purchasing history to understand how frequently they buy a product or service
  • Looking into a customer’s previous support inquiries to see what kinds of issues they may have had in the past
  • Browsing a knowledgebase for specific keywords pertaining to customer or prospect inquiries
  • Allowing users to perform basic account maintenance functions like resetting their password or changing their personal information

These basic tasks might not be as sexy as the creation of a vivid abstract painting or the writing of a complex, multilayered orchestra piece, but they are vital for companies looking to harness AI for business purposes.

Don’t lose the practical AI trees for the self-learning forest

The ability of artificial intelligence to self-learn is poised to revolutionize many parts of society, from the way we analyze and interpret big data to the way we drive our cars. But when it comes to using AI to offer an enjoyable, efficient customer experience, self-learning should be applied in pragmatic ways that contribute to business goals – exactly the purpose of Creative Virtual’s V-Person customer service solution.

As the leader in virtual customer service, Creative Virtual specializes in the science of conversation. Sign up for a free demonstration here.