ChatGPT requires no introduction. Having given education, web development, marketing and even Google a serious run for their money, many are exploring how and where this next-generation tool can be utilized for the greatest impact.
Explaining the possibilities, David Hicks, facilitator of the CX Network Masterclass and president of Tribe CX, says: “You could actually use these technologies to completely digitalize and automate your front end. You could conceivably take all your service operations out and automate them and using some of these new technologies and you could do that relatively quickly.”
7 ways to use generative AI for CX
According to Hicks, there are seven primary ways that generative AI is being used for CX at present.
- Personalization and recommendation systems: Machine learning (ML) and AI can be leveraged to deliver personalized experiences, such as personalized product recommendations and targeted content suggestions.
- Natural Language Processing and conversational AI: NLP and conversational AI enable chatbots, virtual assistants and voice-powered interactions for enhanced CX.
- Sentiment analysis and customer insights: ML and AI can analyze solicited and unsolicited feedback to gain deeper, more actionable insights into customer preferences, pain points, and satisfaction levels.
- Predictive analytics and customer lifetime value: ML- and AI-powered predictive analytics can forecast customer behavior, identify churn risks and calculate customer lifetime value.
- Omnichannel CX: Facilitating multichannel CX to ensure a consistent and personalized experience throughout the end-to-end customer journey.
- Voice and image recognition: Voice and image recognition capabilities can deliver innovative expereinces, such as voice search and visual product search.
- Customer journey mapping and automation: The technology can be used to identify pain points and automate the customer journey to improve efficiency, reduce manual effort and enhance end-to-end CX.
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ChatGPT for service and operations
That’s the theory. Louise Williams, CCXP, group head of customer experience design and implementation at TUI Group, says that in practice, the automation facilitated by a generative AI technology such as ChatGPT can potentially eliminate some customer calls by answering them on the spot and keeping the experience moving.
The German leisure, travel and tourism company operates hotels, resorts, flights and cruises and serves more than 27 million customers both online and across thousands of branches.
Its network of physical locations are either owned by the group or its franchise partners, giving a degree of freedom and flexibility how a superior customer experience can be delivered.
Despite much of the travel industry moving online over the last 20 years, TUI maintains its branch network because it aligns with the brand’s values and the needs of various customer personas. Some personas prefer an automated experience while others, the in-store touch.
Data released in early 2023 found 48 percent of customers are willing to interact with AI-based tools and automations if it will make their experience more seamless, consistent and convenient.
The cost savings made through a resulting automation strategy can be reinvested in other parts of the experience. In the case of TUI, this could mean investing in new human touch points that would elevate the overall experience, or free-up human resources to deal with the more complex calls and queries.
Evolving self-service and omnichannel
Eric Carrasquilla, president of CX solutions at CSG, goes a step further to say generative AI "will change everything".
He predicts: "At the most basic levels of customer service, human involvement will be extinct in under three years, simply because ChatGPT – and other innovations under the umbrella of generative AI – will be able to handle those inquiries with ease. We’re looking at a tectonic shift in the efficiency and effectiveness of programs to boost customer experience."
Bringing the future to life, in January 2023 software developer NICE unveiled its ChatGPT integration, which sees the tool combined with NICE’s cloud native customer service and knowledge management solution, CXone Expert.
CXone Expert is intended to give customers immediate responses without the need for call-backs or transfers and this integration ensures answers to customer self-service inquiries are immediate, highly accurate and semantically constructed in a human-friendly manner.
Barry Cooper, president of the CX Division at NICE, said: “This is a game changer for CX. By combining NICE’s deep CX-Industry specific Enlighten AI models with the innovative conversational AI capabilities of OpenAI's generative modeling, we are evolving self-service to its inevitable next level, providing brands with powerful new capabilities to enhance customer experience, create more efficient customer interactions, and boost their brand engagement in a way that feels natural, friendly and human.
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Using ChatGPT for content
In addition to its communication, coding and other skills, ChatGPT is great at creating content, which forms an important part of the wider customer loyalty and retention play.
Self-service web development tool Wix has integrated ChatGPT to give CX practitioners the ability to generate high-quality and uniquely-tailored content for a Wix-based website.
“When it comes to creating professional content that properly conveys users’ messages to their site visitors, we’ve seen that it is a big obstacle for users and ultimately takes them much longer to complete their site,” explains Oded Nachshon, head of Wix Editor and chairman of the Wix Editor platform and Wix Media.
“This is why we are really proud of our recent feature that combines our deep understanding of website content like the right text length, important information to highlight, and the proper tone, paired with GPT-3. This provides users with unmatched text quality, which is key to having a professional website,” Nachshon adds.
The AI Text Creator is gradually rolling out to Wix users in English with plans to roll out more widely at a later date.
Nachshon says: “By utilizing AI tools, we’re removing barriers that generally complicate website building and enable users to keep their site updated and on brand with the latest technology.”
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Generative AI for FMCG marketing
In the world of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), it takes more than a finger on a pulse to keep ahead of martech, advertising and consumer trends.
Often regarded as one of the largest FMCG brand in the world, The Coca-Cola Company is now using OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E platforms to craft personalized advertising copy, images and messaging while improving business operations and capabilities.
There is much more to the story, however. Coca-Cola’s latest use of generative AI is a result of a new global services alliance formed by Bain & Company and OpenAI.
The aim is to change the way people communicate and create and it follows Bain’s adoption of OpenAI technologies for its 18,000-strong multi-disciplinary team. Over the past year, the consultancy has embedded OpenAI technologies into its internal knowledge management systems, research, and processes to improve efficiency. The Coca-Cola Company is the first to engage with the alliance.
“We are excited to unleash the next generation of creativity offered by this rapidly emerging technology,” said James Quincey, chair and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
“We see opportunities to enhance our marketing through cutting-edge AI, along with exploring ways to improve our business operations and capabilities.”
When to use generative AI and automation
Productivity and marketing aside, the high-tech and low touch automated customer experiences facilitated by ChatGPT do not fit every brand.
TUI Group offers automated customer support throughout the customer journey, but forcing customers down that route does not align with its brand values. This means automation and advanced chat tools for self-service will only ever play a limited role.
At the other end of the travel spectrum, however, is Ryan Air. Its brand values are low touch and low cost, so the journey is automated not to free up investment for other human touchpoints, but to reduce the overall cost to the customer. Customers on the Ryanair app or website have a fully automated journey and to discourage the use of live support, there is a charge to customers for making calls.
Hicks says: “Ryanair’s brand ambition is to deliver the lowest cost travel anywhere in the northern hemisphere and it is very good at that. It has Medallia in place but Ryanair is not at all interested in loyalty or advocacy – the only reason it uses that technology is to find out how its automated approach is working so it can continue to improve those processes.”
These financial savings and customer satisfaction gains can be applied to any sector. The question, however, is not where do automate, but where to put the live, human support.
Hicks says: “You need to think about how it all sits together to deliver your brand promise and then deliberately design in the expensive, human element at the touchpoints that make most sense for your customers.”
It is an established truth in CX that automation is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor and ChatGPT will not change that fact. Automation must still be assessed for suitability and applied only where it can enhance CX and brand values, rather than add friction to a customer’s journey.
What is it changing is the level of complexity that can be addressed in self-service – a bot can now instantly address complex tasks with empathy, efficiency and a conversational tone.
How are you using ChatGPT in your business? Share your stories in the comments below.