Empathy gap: Finding the balance between AI and customer experience
While brands are excited about the efficiency gains in customer experience (CX) achieved through artificial intelligence (AI), there is a significant gap between the internal benefits and the service that consumers actually experience - an often disappointing result.
According to communications company Verizon's CX Annual Insights report, the future of customer experience (CX) is not just about implementing AI, but strategically integrating it to strengthen human relationships and address key customer issues.
Empathy gap revealed
The report, based on a survey of 5,000 consumers and 500 executives in seven countries, reveals a serious divide:
- The human factor is still crucial: Overall, 88 % of consumers are satisfied with interactions that are mostly or entirely carried out by human employees. Only 60 % say the same about interactions with AI. This trend illustrates a fundamental insight: the efficiency of AI cannot replace the empathy and trust that a human conveys.
- The biggest frustration: no direct communication with people: The most common cause of consumer frustration with automated interactions is the inability to speak or chat with a human agent when needed. Almost half of all consumers (47 %) cite this as the biggest problem. Businesses themselves are aware of this, with a similar percentage of executives stating that this is the most common complaint they receive in relation to AI-powered interactions.
- The contradiction of personalization: Although personalization is one of the most important use cases for AI for brands, most consumers don't see the benefits. In fact, more consumers said that personalization has impacted their overall experience (30 %), than that it has improved it (26 %). An important factor is data privacy, with 65 % of executives stating that privacy regulations limit their ability to use AI for personalization. This point is particularly critical as 54 % of consumers state that their trust in the proper use of their personal data by companies has decreased.
"The future of CX is not about AI replacing humans, but about using AI to enhance human interactions," says Daniel Lawson, SVP Global Solutions at Verizon Business. "Companies that use AI to meet customer needs, empower their employees and improve personalization while respecting privacy will be the market leaders of tomorrow."
Closing the gap: Practical examples of AI that works
Companies are successfully using AI to improve the skills of their teams and optimize the customer experience instead of replacing human labor. The "Insights Report" gives an example of how an energy supply company was able to provide proactive support thanks to AI. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the company used AI and predictive analytics to identify middle-income households that might be struggling to pay their energy bills. This allowed the company to target households with personalized recommendations, for example by also pointing out government-organized energy assistance. In this way, the company demonstrated and proved not only customer proximity, but also that AI can solve concrete social challenges with a human-centered approach. The same company also uses AI to assist advisors, for example to process calls more efficiently. This involves providing them with the right data at the right time and consolidating calls, thereby reducing the burden on employees. This is in line with the report's finding that companies now prioritize investments in improving the customer experience through human employees and AI equally.
Source: Verizon
This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/empathie-luecke-gleichgewicht-zwischen-ki-und-customer-experience-finden/
