AI, and generative AI, in particular, is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetime. As the proliferation of technology continues to take the world by storm, businesses are under increasing pressure to identify the best use cases for AI across their organization and securely deploy the technology.
According to a Gartner survey, 59% of organizations have already deployed some form of AI, with over half of these organizations (56%) using AI primarily to improve decision-making and customer experience through tools such as virtual assistants. Additional data from the McKinsey Global Survey finds that more than one-quarter of respondents from companies that use AI have generative AI in their board agendas.
Business communication and customer service are two areas where generative AI can have a significant impact on business performance, and this year we’ll see a plethora of new use cases tapping into the power of this technology. Here are three ways in which AI will revolutionize business communication.
From chatbots to end-to-end task automation
Chatbots and voice-enabled bots have been the main applications of AI to date in the business communications space. However, the true promise of AI lies in other areas. The real value is transitioning from front-end bots to ones that can learn from customer-generated data and act based on the inputs they process. As such, this next step will be for customer support software to delve beyond just answering questions, towards enabling true end-to-end task automation. A collaboration between humans and AI technology can streamline key business functions such as customer service.
With the influence of AI, organizations can provide faster service, valuable insight, and a more personalized customer experience. Call center agents can become more effective in their roles when client data is captured and presented to them by the time the caller reaches them. AI virtual agents can interpret and access customer data to handle basic inquiries independently, freeing up human agents to handle complex tasks.
With generative AI, virtual agents will be able to better understand the context and intent of each customer interaction and provide more effective feedback and customer support for a wider range of tasks that would have typically required involving a human call center agent. The technology will be also more capable of assessing when human assistance is needed and routing the call to the most qualified person while providing recommendations about the next steps and advice on the best course of action.
AI as a coach
Knowledge management is another field dramatically affected by generative AI and could help fill in the gap in skilled workers in certain areas. Thanks to AI tools such as ChatGPT, less skilled employees can complete more complex tasks in collaboration with virtual training tools.
For instance, when it comes to call centers, AI can be used to provide real-time training through virtual agent assistants. These AI-powered bots can monitor interactions online or during conference calls via speech or text, “listening” to the words exchanged and their sentiment. Virtual assistants can then use this insight to coach human workers in real-time, ensuring they deliver an efficient and effective customer service experience but also on-brand and on message.
Moving beyond virtual training, knowledge management AI applications can be used to harvest, classify, organize, store, and retrieve knowledge, as well as analyze and filter multiple channels of communication and content. In this scenario, AI can facilitate collaborative intelligence, share organizational knowledge, and improve efficiency. As businesses are collecting more and more data, the potential of AI to drive value through data insight and knowledge sharing is greater than ever before.
A new age of meetings
Currently, the most common use case of AI in business communications has been in the contact center and customer experience space. However, the tangible potential of AI technology for virtual meetings is largely untapped when it comes to scenarios beyond translation services or speech-to-text.
For instance, we have barely scratched the surface in detecting facial expressions or changes in tone to gauge the stress levels in a meeting. Advanced video conferencing systems can parse live streaming video and audio and score meetings based on engagement, learning, and teamwork attributes. The metrics and benchmarks can be shared in real-time with the meeting organizers and can be used to encourage meeting leaders to improve future calls.
Other features already being tested include automatically generating meeting minutes, assigning action items, creating Q&A meeting summaries, and more. When combined with AI, video conferences have the potential to transform the user experience and improve employee engagement and productivity. There are also exciting opportunities for creating more immersive meeting experiences by tapping into virtual and augmented reality. While these technologies are currently more widely used in the consumer space, we are likely to see growing adoption across enterprises soon. The possibilities are endless.
In conclusion
Humans and AI need to work together to tap into the full potential of this new technology. The most competitive organizations out there are already pushing the boundaries of technology, so the AI revolution is underway, and those who don’t embrace AI innovation risk falling behind.
As generative AI tools become more commonplace, it will become increasingly important for organizations not to let market hypes influence their decisions. Instead, business leaders will need to truly align AI adoption to business priorities and ensure they have a clear understanding of how these tools can be implemented effectively. This will require making informed and thoughtful decisions about potential use case scenarios, evaluating the risks, and creating a knowledge-driven culture that uses AI to augment human skills and drive better business outcomes.
