Why Generative AI Is the Future of Contact Centres

By Marco Ndrecaj, Director of Contact Centre Services at SSCL

Generative AI is the talk of the town. The conversations around the technology though are vastly negative, with people fearing generative AI will replace them in their jobs, or that it will take over humanity.

Despite the current rhetoric, concerns over AI are misplaced, with generative AI set to be the next big technological innovation assisting us with day-to-day work and personal tasks. While it might seem as though roles are being replaced, those organisations replacing current jobs with AI will have to create enhanced job roles for humans – it’s a win-win.

GEN AI IN CONTACT CENTRES

In the infancy of a product or technology, it’s always the case there are teething problems. And, we’re seeing it with generative AI – especially its use by cybercriminals to mimic loved ones' voices and fake distressing phone calls to bribe family, or the tech’s ability to create malware to trick unsuspecting victims. While these uses of generative AI might be scary, and safeguards should be put in place as a form of protection, the technology is here to stay.

This is especially the case for the customer service industry. For the businesses that implement generative AI, customer interactions are due to improve massively. Whether it’s contact centre agents never needing to put people on hold again because they have real-time answers to simple queries, AI being able to provide 24/7/365 support, or the technology handling multiple customer queries simultaneously – generative AI is the future.

It's a theory that’s backed up by the fact that, in the current economic landscape, most businesses aren’t hesitating when it comes to deciding the strategic direction they are going in. And they can’t afford to either, especially given the benefits. For example, at SSCL, we have had a 500% uptake in self-service queries by customers due to the improved speed and ease of use it offers them.

This is a new era for contact centres. Generative AI has the potential to improve customer experience, but equally as important, improve employee experience too. In fact, by acting as a co-pilot supporting contact centre agents by taking on straightforward queries that aren’t outcome-based, AI can leave highly trained agents to take on higher-value tasks, motivating them in their roles.

BETTER EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

While technology change is always happening, it’s important to note humans aren’t going anywhere. As long as there are humans with questions, there needs to be humans answering them – people want to speak with and deal with people. One of the main concerns in the customer service industry around generative AI is its lack of human empathy and emotional intelligence. In fact, it may struggle to understand nuanced or emotionally charged customer inquiries, leading to potential frustration or dissatisfaction among customers. Alongside this, AI solutions can unintentionally exhibit biases that may have been present in its data, potentially leading to discriminatory or unfair responses.

It's these issues that mean generative AI solutions – such as conversational AI, which enables computers to have conversations with humans, and Large Language Model (LLM) which focuses on understanding and producing human language – still can’t be used without the human element of customer service backing them up and supporting customers.

Saying that, agents need to ensure they are specifically trained on the AI, with the tech brought into future training courses as a necessity. The more agents know about generative AI, the better they will be able to utilise the technology while removing any personal fears they might have.

As part of this training, it’s important for contact centres to bring data scientists into their teams to help workers make the most of the technology for their own benefit, and the experiences they are providing customers.

THE AI GAME-CHANGER

Contact centres need to truly understand the benefits of generative AI. Doing so will ensure they’re positioned in a way in which they can best leverage the technology while ensuring employees are bought into the journey.

Generative AI will revolutionise the customer service industry, helping agents deal with increasing customer demands. It needs to be adopted. However, this adoption needs to be done in the correct way to ensure generative AI becomes a trusted co-pilot to agents, executives, and everything in between.