Submitted by wsj t3_1199t01 in Futurology
Comments
wsj OP t1_j9ly38y wrote
Right now, AI is largely augmenting the workflow by making decisions while workers carry them out. But the tech is getting more advanced. More from the story:
>Charlie started out with simple tasks such as greeting callers, saying, “Hi, I’m Charlie, your digital assistant,” and asking basic questions, such as, “Please tell me why you are calling today.” After learning to route callers to the proper department, she was able to reduce average call-handle times by 36 seconds, or more than 10%, Ms. Cloud said.
>
>Charlie is a quick study. By late fall, she was trained to handle a water-leak claim (“Is this a major leak?”), while using empathy (“I’m sorry to hear about your leak”) and determine the urgency of the issue (“Are you able to shut off the water yourself?”) She then booked a contractor to come out for the repair. From start to finish, Charlie’s processing time took less than two minutes compared with a human, who averages eight. She now handles 15% of claims volume and is expected to handle 20% by next year. Chief Transformation Officer Kim Ratcliffe said she hopes Charlie can take over 40% of calls eventually.
-mc
Own_Tomatillo_1369 t1_j9lz7p8 wrote
oh man thank god I never stranded in doing kinds of service, this efficiency measurement is insane. But is it even necessary when run by an AI?
Future: Lonely people calling empathic service hotlines ;)
TONKAHANAH t1_j9nk4th wrote
I was curious how well chatgpt handles technical support questions and while it would have to tweaked specifically to work with real world humans who dont know squat about how to fix basic things, it actually just made it very clear that technical support, at least level 1 basic support will be a job of the past for humans.
but i suppose that also means it may just be something that can be built into the OS in the future as well. You want something done/fixed, you can just ask the OS AI to sort it out for you and it likely can/will.
I've worked on the phones and in enough call centers to know that when companies have an effective combo of a specific language model AI + AI generated voice to go along with it, they'll never need any one to work basic customer support or lvl1 support again, they'll only need humans in escalation rolls. Frankly I think these bots will actually just flat out be better than most lvl 1 tech/support employees. They'll have more info immediately available, they'll have unlimited patience, and they'll probably actually be able to ascertain what the customers are calling in for more effectively.
for example. one of the reasons so many people hate having to call tech support and why getting things done through them is such a pain in the ass is because most of the time the customer poorly explains the issue, and the support agent doesnt listen or think about the issue at all and just jumps right into the company's pre-planned "flow chart" of problem-solving. Frankly, I think these AI's will just be better at all of the things people hate about calling support lines. Down side is it means a lot of easy entry level jobs are gonna be wiped out, for better or worse.
Unexpected_Cranberry t1_j9ojrx8 wrote
Yeah, I was thinking the same after playing a bit with Bing's chat mode. It was more useful before they limited it, but it's still fairly useful.
I could easily see an AI handling a lot of lvl1 cases. Especially if it gets access to some logging and can perform operations such as password resets and the like. Properly configured it will probably be faster and more reliable than a human in a lot of cases.
Dhiox t1_j9q67w3 wrote
I do level 1 support, our manager is pivoting us to start doing Microsoft defender monitoring and mitigation because they've hinted that they forsee a lot of our teams work being automated
TONKAHANAH t1_j9qa660 wrote
The way I see it, a lot of lvl 1 support will get handled right on the devices at some point, kinda like the current Windows built in troubleshooter except it'll actually work. Pop up the devices dedicated Ai assistant and say "I can't load youtube, what's wrong?" and then the device will just just doing troubleshooting and sorting it out. We're not far off from some crazy detailed auto-generated automation.
Dhiox t1_j9qaf3k wrote
The only problem is that Users lie. Any AI that relies on users being able to accurately describe the issue will fail.
TONKAHANAH t1_j9qnhc3 wrote
Well sure, but they'd have the same issue with humans than too. Those scenarios will likely have to be escalated and escalated positions will still have to be held by humans. It's the simple things that have to get resolved over and over again, basic questions, that sort of thing.
wsj OP t1_j9l5vbt wrote
Call centers are the testing grounds for a future workplace where AI plays more and more of a role — whether human employees like it or not.
From Lisa Bannon:
>A new generation of artificial intelligence is rolling out across American workplaces and it is prompting a power struggle between humans and machines.
>
>Recent advances in technologies such as ChatGPT, natural-language processing and biometrics, along with the availability of huge amounts of data to train algorithms, has accelerated efforts to automate some jobs entirely, from pilots and welders to cashiers and food servers. McKinsey & Co. estimates that 25% of work activities in the U.S. across all occupations could be automated by 2030.
>
>Today, however, AI’s biggest impact comes from changing the jobs rather than replacing them. “I don’t see a job apocalypse being imminent. I do see a massive restructuring and reorganization—and job quality is an issue,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. McKinsey estimates 60% of the 800 occupations listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics could see a third of their activities automated over the coming decades.
>
>For workers, the technology promises to eliminate the drudgery of dull, repetitive tasks such as data processing and password resets, while synthesizing huge amounts of information that can be accessed instantly.
>
>But when AI handles the simple stuff, say labor experts, academics and workers, humans are often left with more complex, intense workloads. When algorithms assume more human decision-making, workers with advanced skills and years of experience can find their roles diminished. And when AI is used to score human behaviors and emotions, employees say the technology isn’t reliable and is vulnerable to bias.
Read more, free with email registration: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-chatgpt-chatbot-workplace-call-centers-5cd2142a?mod=wsjreddit
-mc
CTDKZOO t1_j9lapvl wrote
The one thing AI can't do in terms of support is: Violate stupid company policies.
AI can really help with tier 1 support and handing someone with the power of exception info, making it easy and resolve problems that aren't common.
BardicSense t1_j9n539q wrote
McKinsey tends to be horrible at estimating things as advantageous for the business, so let's hope they're wrong about this like they are with just about everything else. McKinsey destroys companies with their terrible "cost cutting" measures.
If AI should be automating anything it should he useless overpaid consultant jobs.
MINIMAN10001 t1_j9nuxou wrote
I like how they say "whether human employees like it or not"
but everything I know about call centers is that they are actually the worst.
People calling into call centers completely dumpstering on the poor worker while the poor worker is getting dumpstered on by management for metrics resulting in inhumane treatment from both the customer and the boss.
Employees can live a happier life doing pretty much anything else.
I know Comcast has tied in their systems so I can learn if they are constantly doing maintenance when I get home from work so I can't use the service we're paying for. The answer is yes, but it used to take so many more menus than it does now to get to the automated system which knows the answer.
FuturologyBot t1_j9lc28e wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/wsj:
Call centers are the testing grounds for a future workplace where AI plays more and more of a role — whether human employees like it or not.
From Lisa Bannon:
>A new generation of artificial intelligence is rolling out across American workplaces and it is prompting a power struggle between humans and machines.
>
>Recent advances in technologies such as ChatGPT, natural-language processing and biometrics, along with the availability of huge amounts of data to train algorithms, has accelerated efforts to automate some jobs entirely, from pilots and welders to cashiers and food servers. McKinsey & Co. estimates that 25% of work activities in the U.S. across all occupations could be automated by 2030.
>
>Today, however, AI’s biggest impact comes from changing the jobs rather than replacing them. “I don’t see a job apocalypse being imminent. I do see a massive restructuring and reorganization—and job quality is an issue,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. McKinsey estimates 60% of the 800 occupations listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics could see a third of their activities automated over the coming decades.
>
>For workers, the technology promises to eliminate the drudgery of dull, repetitive tasks such as data processing and password resets, while synthesizing huge amounts of information that can be accessed instantly.
>
>But when AI handles the simple stuff, say labor experts, academics and workers, humans are often left with more complex, intense workloads. When algorithms assume more human decision-making, workers with advanced skills and years of experience can find their roles diminished. And when AI is used to score human behaviors and emotions, employees say the technology isn’t reliable and is vulnerable to bias.
Read more, free with email registration: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-chatgpt-chatbot-workplace-call-centers-5cd2142a?mod=wsjreddit
-mc
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1199t01/ai_in_the_workplace_is_already_here_the_first/j9l5vbt/
[deleted] t1_j9mn40v wrote
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paxtonious t1_j9qa3fp wrote
What about all the draftsman replaced by Autocad? We use to have 30 in my office for highway design. Now the inspectors draft designs in the winter when there is no construction. Not quite AIp but definitely a large workforce that was replaced by computer programming.
Own_Tomatillo_1369 t1_j9lkw04 wrote
Yeah cause there is/was a rising demand in service that can´t be fed by human workforce anymore. 1st step "AI" with chatbots etc. was integrated maybe 10 years ago, Call Centers have like a script to feed AI´s.. I´m sure in 10 or maybe 15 years we will speak with AI´s instead of CallCenter agents and maybe can´t even tell the difference.