Tales of developing an AI-powered chatbot

Chatbots are computer programmes designed to conduct conversations with humans about specific topics, through text, voice or touch. Because they can run 24/7, chatbots are becoming increasingly popular in situations where there are frequently asked questions which can be resolved from a limited pool of answers. Examples include accepting an order, updating the status of … Continue reading Tales of developing an AI-powered chatbot

Technological disruptions in services

When our fridge broke down, at the end of last month, the job of finding a replacement was made a lot easier by the existence of websites, and significantly more interesting by the existence of augmented reality. With the former, we could gather lots of information about each fridge’s features and their availability, which helped … Continue reading Technological disruptions in services

Slides from “Coping with chatbot service failure” talk

Here are the slides from my (online) talk at BML Munjal University, earlier this month. This talk draws on my work on identifying how artificial intelligence can destroy business value, and specifically the empirical work developed my doctoral student Daniela Castillo (paper here; discussion here and here). The talk was followed by a Q&A, where participants … Continue reading Slides from “Coping with chatbot service failure” talk

“Coping with chatbot service failure” webinar, 15th September, free

I am delivering a guest talk at BML Munjal University (India) on how customers react to failed service interactions with chatbots. Chatbots promise to deliver better customer experience through the collection and use of customer insight, and at a fraction of the cost of staff-based customer service. However, interactions with chatbots often fall below customer … Continue reading “Coping with chatbot service failure” webinar, 15th September, free

Perceived blame, matters

In customer service, things are bound to go wrong, at some point. When that happens, it is important to not only understand what went wrong, but also what is the perceived cause of the problem, because that impacts on the recovery strategy. Take interacting with a chatbot, for instance. As discussed in a previous … Continue reading Perceived blame, matters

Sources of customer dissatisfaction in AI-powered service interactions

Chatbots are everywhere, and used in every industry. They promise to improve customer service, by offering 24-hour service and quick answers, at a fraction of the cost of their human counterparts. Reality is, however, less… polished. Even a bit frustrating. In the paper “The dark side of AI-powered service interactions: exploring the process of … Continue reading Sources of customer dissatisfaction in AI-powered service interactions

March 2020 round-up

At the beginning of the month, I wrote in my journal that March would be a month in two halves. And it was. But not at all as I had imagined it would be. To be fair, my months rarely pan out as planned. But, boy, has this month been unexpected?! The first half … Continue reading March 2020 round-up

February 2020 round-up

February was good. There were some moments of intense sadness, for instance, following the news that Caroline Flack had committed suicide. But, overall, February was a month with a definite sense of momentum at work, with several pieces falling into place. It was also a month with a sense of fun, which even included … Continue reading February 2020 round-up

Forthcoming talk on AI in customer service – March 10th, 6pm, Brunel University London

Next week, I am joining 5 other researchers and practitioners working in the field of AI, for an evening event, examining various use cases of AI, from law to the built environment, and including customer service. In my talk, I will be sharing the early findings from a research project that investigates what frustrates … Continue reading Forthcoming talk on AI in customer service – March 10th, 6pm, Brunel University London

AI is a system, not a technology

I have been reading a lot of about artificial intelligence (AI), lately, and reflecting on its implications for how organisations interact with its customers. I have noticed that, often, AI is equated with the algorithm that underpins it (which is, often, assumed to be a machine learning algorithm). That makes sense, because algorithms are fundamental … Continue reading AI is a system, not a technology