Chat is an incredible tool for having a real-time conversation with a customer on the other end of the computer. It’s been proven to be one of the most preferred methods of communicating with a customer support representative online. In fact, 63% of customers said they were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat as opposed to one that doesn’t.
But how do the tables turn when chatbots are introduced into the customer service mix? Do customers really mind if an automation is clicking “send” on their responses? Alex Debecker of Ubisend and VentureBeat teamed up to publish this article on the issues and real questions around having a robot do the talking.
Read a portion of the post here, and the rest on the VentureBeat site:
Conversations about chatbots helping humans in the workplace always brings up the same range of issues. We often end up discussing the place artificial intelligence will have in our lives. We (very) often talk about robots taking over completely. Some mention ‘the Singularity’ in a frightened tone, while others scoff at it.
Whatever the conversation, it always seems to revolve around the same topic: the impact robots will have on the humans they might replace and/or harm.
This debate is missing an entire piece of the puzzle, though. What about the humans on the other side of the conversation? After all, chatbots are there to converse, and there must be someone on the other end. So how do they feel about talking to a robot?
You are talking to a robot. How does that make you feel?
This is a highly relevant question. A chatbot could be as smart as anything in tech, but if people are reluctant to use it — for whatever reason — it becomes utterly useless. We know the prospect of robots taking over our jobs is scary to some. But how do we feel about chatbots helping us in our daily lives?
Thankfully, a few studies have allowed us to answer this question.
Mimi An from HubSpot shared the results of her study on the topic of artificial intelligence in eCommerce and customer support. The study found that only 57 percent of the people interviewed would rather get help from a real person than an AI program. To support this statistic, 40 percent answered they didn’t care whether they are talking to a human or a machine as long as they get the help they need.
Continue reading the article >>
Check out Ubisend’s 2017 Chatbot Report here >>
How does the thought of robots taking over live chat support make you or your business feel? Share your thoughts in the comments below.