As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly sophisticated, some predict (and even fear) it will take over jobs that humans do, including those of call center agents. But while AI can boost productivity and help improve customer experience, there are certain things it can’t do, such as completely replacing human agents.

Solving Complex Problems
One of the shortcomings of AI is that it can’t understand complex questions and resolve complex problems the way humans can. This is a major reason why customers still prefer to speak to live agents as opposed to using AI technology. According to Ecosmob, 88 percent of customers prefer speaking to a human customer service agent instead of navigating a phone menu. As many as a third of customers end up speaking with a customer service agent after coming across an IVR menu. Unable to reach a human agent, 70 percent of callers surveyed said they press ‘0’ or utter words like ‘agent’.

By being able to understand complex questions and solve complex problems better than AI, live agents also help increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Understanding Emotions
In addition to AI being unable to solve complex problems, it’s unable to feel emotions and interpret and react to them as humans can, which is another reason why people prefer to speak to a live agent. Being able to share emotions with another human and receive empathy from them gives customers comfort and helps de-escalate issues. This, in turn, improves customer satisfaction and helps with customer retention.

Personality and Humor
In addition to not understanding emotions, AI doesn’t understand humor and personality and is therefore not able to project the personality of a brand when interacting with customers in real time. It can only do so with messages that have been pre-programed by humans. In contrast, live agents can add humor and personality to a conversation, as needed and appropriate.

The Accuracy of AI Responses
Because AI does not think in a sophisticated way like humans can, in some cases, it may return responses that don’t make sense, are inaccurate or incomplete. Humans are more flexible and better at making decisions and offering responses based on memories from experience. For these reasons, humans are often more accurate than AI when it comes to solving complex problems and can provide more relevant information to customers.

The Future of AI
As AI technology evolves, it can become more human-like. However, it’s still a long way from being able to solve complex problems and understand human emotions. Today, AI is becoming an increasingly important component of contact center operations efficiency and helping customer service agents to focus on tasks that require human insight, creativity, emotion, and personalization. AI utilization comes down to your business’ specific and unique needs, and CH Consulting Group can help to determine the most effective balance between using AI and live agents to enhance the customer experience. Contact us today to learn more.