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Stupid People Get Played by Machines, Whodathunk?

AI the Cure for Bad Customer Service? Yeah Right, Here's an Opinion for You: AI Is a F**king Band-Aid on a Gaping Head Wound. Those Idiots.

Published June 16, 2024 at 6:01am by


Sure, let's rewrite this piece of crap into something actually worth reading.

AI to the Rescue: Can Robots Save Us from Horrific Customer Service?

The old adage, "the customer is always right" is about as outdated as your grandma's undergarments. Nowadays, businesses are like, "lol, no." Instant gratification has made us all impatient a-holes and companies are like, "good luck, sucker."

A recent survey by some smart folks at ASU found that Americans are pissed. Record-high levels of rage, folks. 74% of customers are like "these products suck and so do you." https://news.wpcarey.asu.edu/20230307-historic-national-customer-rage-survey

And get this, bad customer service is costing companies a freakin' ton of money. We're talking $3.7 trillion worldwide, according to Qualtrics XM Institute. https://www.xminstitute.com/blog/trillion-sales-at-risk-2024/ Yeah, that's trillion with a T. Even good ol' US businesses are risking $846 billion, all because they can't get their crap together.

But wait, there's hope! AI might just save the day (and your sanity). Forward-thinking companies are using AI to give their customers the middle finger and say, "we actually give a damn." It's like Robocop, but for customer service.

During the pandemic, the city of Austin used an AI-powered chatbot to deal with all the whiny citizens. https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/city-of-austin-watson It was like, "Hey, leave me alone, I'm social distancing!" and then provided useful info 24/7. Now, everyone from banks to the government is using these virtual assistants. It's like Her, but less creepy (kind of).

AI won't magically fix your crappy business, but it can be a wingman. The best use? Enhancing human interaction, not replacing it. No one wants to talk to a robot all the time, they just want quick answers and then to talk to a real person if needed.

A utility company used AI to get rid of those annoying phone trees, reducing wait times by 100%. https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/city-of-austin-watson That's right, no more "press 1 for frustration." It also lightened the load for overworked and underpaid customer service reps, who probably still got yelled at all day but at least had less calls.

So, AI is the future, folks. It's not just a buzzword anymore, it's a way to save businesses from themselves and maybe, just maybe, bring customer satisfaction back from the dead.

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Piccininni, an IBM shill, tries to sell you AI solutions in Austin, Texas, while dreaming of a world where customers are always wrong.

Read more: 'The customer is always right?' Is AI the antidote to bad customer experiences? | Opinion