Oh great, more AI. As if my phone calls weren't already painful enough, now they're going to be "turbo-charged" with AI agents? Give me a break. I saw this headline about AI possibly ending call centers, and honestly, my first thought was: is that really a good thing?
We've all dealt with those "rule-based chatbots" that are about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine. You know the drill: endless loops of pre-programmed responses, zero actual problem-solving. This article mentions Evri's chatbot, Ezra, which sounds like a total nightmare. Wrong delivery photo? No way to escalate? Color me shocked.
And now companies are rushing to replace actual people with this?
The article quotes Gartner saying 85% of customer service leaders are "exploring, piloting or deploying AI chatbots." Translation: 85% of companies are about to make your customer service experience 10x more frustrating to save a buck. I'm sure of it.
DPD had to disable its AI chatbot after it started swearing at users. Swearing! At least that's entertaining. I'd honestly prefer a chatbot that just yells at me than one that pretends to be helpful while actively making my life worse. Maybe that's just me, offcourse.
Salesforce is all excited about their AI-powered customer service platform, AgentForce. They even brag about teaching it to be more sympathetic, because apparently, its default setting was "soulless corporate drone."
But here's the thing: can AI actually be sympathetic? Can it understand the frustration of waiting on hold for an hour, only to be disconnected? Can it grasp the sheer rage that boils inside you when your internet goes down for the fifth time this week? I seriously doubt it.
Joe Inzerillo from Salesforce says they learned valuable lessons about making the AI seem more human-like. He mentions how the AI just "opened a ticket" instead of saying "sorry to hear that." I'm sorry, but that's not "human-like." That's just basic programming. Slapping a digital Band-Aid on a gaping wound.
And 94% of customers are choosing to interact with AI agents? Either people are lying, or they've been beaten down so much by terrible customer service that they've given up on actual human interaction. Which, honestly, is probably the more depressing option.
They try to sell this as "unlocking the next level of customer service," but let's be real: it's about cutting costs. Salesforce supposedly cut customer service costs by $100 million. And what happened to those employees? "Redeployed in other areas around customer service," they claim. Right. Because there's so much demand for customer service reps in a world run by AI.
I can't help but feel like we're trading genuine human connection for a soulless, automated experience. We're sacrificing empathy and understanding at the altar of efficiency and profit. And honestly, I don't think it's worth it.
So, what's the real story? AI call centers ain't about improving your customer experience. It's about replacing people with algorithms. It's about squeezing every last drop of profit out of the system, even if it means making our lives a little bit more miserable. And honestly, I'm not sure I can take any more misery. Will AI mean the end of call centres?
