ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI, is being used by companies such as Duolingo and Be My Eyes to enhance their customer experience proposition. ChatGPT can hold automated conversations in a human tone and be trained on large volumes of data, training manuals and answers to tricky questions.
There are two branches of AI: generative AI and conversational AI. While conversational AI aims to provide human-like interaction with users in natural language, generative AI focuses on creating new content or responses based on large amounts of input data. ChatGPT is a generative AI capable of holding “natural” conversations.
We have already heard of use cases from B2C enterprises including Coca-Cola and Bain. In this article, CX Network takes a closer look at how large language models (LLMs) are being used in education, virtual assistance, and video-based customer support.
How companies are using ChatGPT for CX
Duolingo, a language-learning platform, is using the technology that underpins ChatGPT, OpenAI's GPT-4, to introduce new features that enhance the language-learning experience. The app's new subscription tier, Duolingo Max, leverages GPT-4 to create two new AI-powered features; Role Play and Explain my Answer.
Role Play allows users to practice conversational skills with an AI conversation partner, while Explain my Answer breaks down grammar rules and provides feedback when a user makes a mistake.
Role Play is enabled by GPT-4 in that it allows Duolingo Max customers to test out their language skills in realistic, human-like conversations with the AI. With no two conversations ever being the same, customers are able to test out what they have learned in a variety of different situations, which prepares them for conversations in the real world far better than rote repetition of phrases. The feature also offers AI-powered feedback on the accuracy of responses so that customers can continuously improve.
It can be frustrating for customers that are learning a new language when they get an answer wrong and are unsure why. If customers do not know why their answer was incorrect, they have no way to improve responses in future, which is why Duolingo has applied GPT-4 to implement the Explain my Answer feature. This feature uses the GPT-4 technology to analyze responses upon the request of customers and break down why the answer was right or wrong. Understanding where they are going wrong allows users to correct their rhetoric and improve their understanding of the language.
How Be My Eyes is using GPT-4 to make lives easier for the blind
Be My Eyes, a mobile app that connects visually impaired users with volunteers through live video calls, has introduced Virtual Volunteer, the first-ever digital visual assistant powered by GPT-4. The tool uses OpenAI's generative AI technology to provide conversational visual assistance for a wide variety of tasks. It offers context-driven and nuanced explanations with highly advanced conversational abilities.
The feature utilizes an image-to-text generator, which allows users to take pictures and send them to the AI-powered virtual volunteer. With the GPT-4 technology the app is able to analyze the image and answer questions about it. It can analyze the contents of a user's refrigerator and offer recipes based on the ingredients available or it could tell you what color an item of clothing is before you purchase it.
If users need an answer to a question that is too complex for the AI or one that requires human, the Virtual Volunteer will also offer to transfer them to a live agent who can answer questions about the pictures the user sends.
Be My Eyes plans to beta test Virtual Volunteer with corporate customers and make it broadly available later this year, demonstrating how GPT-4 can be used to provide unprecedented convenience for customers.
Is ChatGPT now the gold standard for automated customer service?
Mahesh Thakur, a leading tech executive, notes that ChatGPT is especially useful for handling customer queries, particularly the 70 percent of customer queries that may be new or tricky. He explains that the intelligence applied by ChatGPT to answer these questions is similar to what a human with data would do when faced with a question, enabling human-like conversations with customer chatbots. Thakur also points out that AI allows for automated responses to tricky questions at scale and enables brands to remove any human bias from customer responses.
Duolingo and Be My Eyes are among the many companies leveraging the power of ChatGPT to provide their users with improved language learning and visual assistance experiences. With the ability to understand a wide range of user inquiries and respond in a personalized and empathetic manner, these innovative applications of natural language processing technologies demonstrate the potential of ChatGPT to revolutionize the way we interact with technology and each other.
Some experts do not believe that ChatGPT is the be-all and end-all of automated customer service responses, however. With ChatGPT being a generative AI, it always seeks to generate new responses after considering all of the input data. While this adds more novel and ‘human’ feel to automated conversations, this lack of standardization is the opposite of what brands want from their customer service responses.
According to Ajay Agarwal, a professor at the University of Toronto focused on AI economics: “ChatGPT is very good for coming up with new things that don't follow a predefined script. It's great for being creative. It's great for asking a range of questions, but you can never count on the answer, and companies wouldn't ever want that as how they are responding in their customer service office.”
It does appear that there is still some way to go before the GPT-4 technology is ready to manage 100 percent of customer queries, but we have seen examples of how it adds tremendous value nonetheless. Duolingo has demonstrated the usefulness of GPT-4's conversational ability in the education space and it would be unsurprising to see these capabilities applied in other spheres of learning such as schools or universities.
We have also seen how the analytical capabilities of GPT-4 can help to improve the lives of those with visual impairments, allowing them to retrieve information from their environment that has typically been denied to them by their disability. Despite the fact that, for now, humans are still needed for many complex or unusual queries, GPT-4 technology certainly offers a new option for brands to enhance the automated customer service experience they offer.
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