OK, so this isn't a blog post specific to Amateur Radio -- but about technology and customer service. So indirectly, it's about a lot of things that impact our daily lives.
We now live in a hyper connected world. It's difficult for most of the civilized world to imagine going through a week, or a day without some type of internet related transaction or interaction. Make a payment? Internet. Need a part? The parts list is online. Need help with some product? Chat line. And 90% of the time, we have no idea whether we are actually dealing with a person, much less where in the world they are located, and or whether they speak your language effectively. All in the name of "efficiency", I suppose.
Here's a problem I run into with all of this…maybe you as well. When I need to communicate with an actual Human Being, technology seems to do everything in its power to prevent that from happening. Automated telephone response systems are failures, IMHO, for all but the most mundane of requests. Chat systems are staffed with either bots or employees who are great at pointing me back to the main web site -- for all but the simplest questions. “Chat ended” is a too common phrase these days.
Certain things, like looking up a manual, finding a part, placing an order, getting generic instruction, have been simplified and improved with an appropriate use of technology. I applaud this.
But. Customer Service, overall, has devolved and gotten steadily worse the past two decades. Need to talk to someone? Good luck as you navigate the labyrinth of voicemail, chat bots, circular websites, emails that can't be replied to, etc. It is a gauntlet purpose-built to keep you, the customer, at arm's length. I have the strong feeling that companies, increasingly, do not want to actually interact with customers ... they'd rather foist the latest AI driven code on their revenue source, and then read a dashboard about the experience.
The mainstream media has recently upped the hype around the use of AI, with click bait type articles with "Terminator" implications... it is always something in the future. The truth is that AI is integral to many companies' Customer Service functions -- and has been for the better part of a decade! We are the frogs being slowly boiled by AI. Little by little, we are communicating less with actual human beings and more with some microprocessor that is programmed to fool-us into thinking otherwise. Literally, this is de-humanizing. In my opinion, it doesn't make for better business outcomes in the long term.
Who are going to be the break-out companies over the next few years that understand this need for human connectivity and provide it, in a way that becomes a major differentiator over their competition? I for one will make it a priority to buy their goods and services, even at a premium price. The joy of a cheap product fades quickly when you need support and can't actually get it.
https://techsee.me/blog/ai-customer-service/
https://www.ibm.com/cloud/ai/customer-service
