Why AI Chatbots Aren’t Taking Over Customer Service Jobs

By now, we’re all well-versed in the many ways that generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard are assisting various professions. 

Summarizing case notes for lawyers? Check.
Writing engaging lesson plans for teachers? Sure.
Crafting software applications for programmers? You got it.

With so much attention on what AI solutions CAN do, it’s easy to neglect thinking about what they CAN’T. 

Although ChatGPT is a powerful tool, its limitations become particularly apparent in the field of customer service. While it alone can’t replace customer service agents, support teams can still benefit from utilizing this technology if they know how to leverage it effectively.

To learn more about what ChatGPT is and its potential applications in customer service, read our blog post, “What Does ChatGPT Mean for the Future of Customer Service?”

Will ChatGPT replace humans in customer service?

The short answer to this question is a resounding no. Period. 

Not every customer wants to interact with a chatbot, and there are plenty of tasks that should never be automated. In addition, ChatGPT simply isn’t equipped to do the most important work that goes on in customer care.

AI chatbots are incredibly effective at automating repetitive work, but for anything that requires a human touch, they fall short. 

When it comes to ChatGPT, the following limitations also must be taken into account:

1. ChatGPT can’t be customized 

From a customer service perspective, ChatGPT’s main limitation is that its answers can’t be tailored to fit any specific business’s needs. 

Why?

ChatGPT is built on GPT-4, one of the world’s most powerful large language models (LLMs). This is what makes it so smart. To reach this level of intelligence, it was fed vast amounts of data from various internet sources like Wikipedia and news articles. 

However, there’s no guarantee that it’s accessed information about your business. So if somebody asks a common question like Where’s my order? ChatGPT might be able to provide some useful information, but it also simply might not know. 

The larger problem is that companies can’t add any personalization features to ChatGPT’s responses. The chatbot will try to answer customer questions, but it won’t be able to do so with your distinct brand voice, tone, and style. If you’re looking to engage customers and develop deeper relationships with them through chat, ChatGPT won’t help you out. 

2. ChatGPT makes basic factual errors

ChatGPT can deliver remarkable answers to all kinds of prompts, but there’s one thing it can’t guarantee — 100% accuracy. 

There are a number of reasons for this. First, ChatGPT’s LLM was trained using data up to September 2021, meaning that it doesn’t have access to any current events that took place after this date. 

If anything about your business has changed recently — like your prices, suppliers, or return policy — do you think ChatGPT can keep up? You don’t want to be stuck giving outdated information to customers as you wait for the chatbot to be updated.

And if your company was set up after 2021, it’s even worse — ChatGPT doesn’t even know you exist.

3. ChatGPT’s answers can’t be controlled

Both of the above problems boil down to a lack of control. Businesses ultimately don’t have any say in what ChatGPT does or says, and that’s a major problem.

What’s made ChatGPT so appealing is that it creates its own responses from scratch. As a form of generative AI, it doesn’t rely on a script of predefined answers to come up with responses. 

While this is great for creative tasks, it isn’t too useful for customer service tasks that require a single, correct answer delivered in an engaging way.

Even for relatively simple questions like How much is shipping? businesses can’t control the exact wording of ChatGPT’s answers. They also have no say over the tone the chatbot uses, opening the door for disrespectful and aggressive customer interactions. This spells bad news for any brand that’s concerned about its reputation, quality assurance, and customer satisfaction.

How should companies use AI in customer service?

Just because ChatGPT is flawed doesn’t mean AI has no place in customer support. AI won’t replace you, so view it as another valuable team member — one that’s multilingual, available 24/7, and designed to support you. 

AI tools can be vital to customer service teams when it comes to the following:

1. Streamlining processes to increase efficiency

AI solutions are excellent options for handling those repetitive tasks that can add up and consume a sizable chunk of your team’s time. For instance, AI chatbots are incredibly effective at automating a business’s most frequently asked questions, typically achieving automation rates of 70% across all channels. 

And their ability to deliver improved support metrics underscores just how efficient AI can make your team. Chatbots often lead to faster response times, shorter resolution times, and boosted customer satisfaction.

2. Analyzing feedback and proposing corrective actions

Manually collecting customer feedback can be clunky. Even worse, knowing what steps to take after obtaining said feedback can be quite the challenge.

Thankfully, AI solutions simplify the entire feedback process. Customer service automation platforms can recognize any trends in your customer feedback, such as which pain points customers are bringing up the most. They help you isolate recurring problems and even recommend corrective measures of their own.

Click here to see how next-gen AI like Zowie X1 instantly analyzes customer feedback, delivering support teams priceless insights into their shoppers.

3. Keeping your focus on the customer

Many in customer service worry that adopting AI will strip support teams of their ability to create human connections with customers. While chatbots will never be able to recreate the relationships customers form with human agents, teams that embrace AI can enjoy the best of both worlds — efficient service that maintains a human touch.

The goal of any customer service team is to put the customer first. AI lets teams stay focused by removing the distractions that repetitive work can bring, placing customer feedback front and center, and highlighting just how satisfied customers are after every single interaction. 

In other words, AI frees up your agents to handle customers’ most urgent cases and removes any guesswork when it comes to providing customers precisely what they’re looking for.  

Conversational AI — an agent’s best friend

If you’re worried ChatGPT will take your job, relax — it’ll likely become your favorite go-to tool before you know it. ChatGPT may be new to customer service, but AI platforms built specifically for customer service have been assisting support teams for years.

Solutions like Zowie greatly simplify an agent’s work without putting any jobs in jeopardy. In fact, Zowie doesn’t just enhance the customer experience — it augments the agent experience too.