Virtual/digital assistants have been around for a while now, but with the advent of AI, they’ve become much more widespread and are generally known as AI assistants. But whatever name you give them, from a customer service point of view, they are complete trash! I remember when I used GoDaddy as my website hosting service, and if I needed help, I had to start with a chatbot by running through a series of inane questions before I could even talk to a human. Unfortunately, the chatbot was never able to solve any problem, so I had to work it out for myself, which is a win. That was nearly 10 years ago, and it’s even worse today, with your chances of talking to a real human being being even more limited.
Chatbots are important because they help organizations deliver faster support, improve access to information and scale service across digital channels. They reflect a broad change in how digital experiences are delivered. Source: IBM
That definition from IBM tells me that chatbots save companies money by reducing the number of support employees. Tech support today is usually outsourced to a third-world country, and even then you need to go through a chatbot initially. Having said that, at least a chatbot communicates in your language and is understandable, whereas humans from some third-world countries are barely able to speak the language of choice.
Most mobile apps get the AI assistant treatment too, including virtual wallets, and frankly, I’m tired of all of them, so I ignore the notification when it pops up.
Are you tired of so many digital assistants?
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