Recently, we had our Digital Transformation Summit where Bassam Salem with AtlasRTX and Mark Law with BDX presented on chatbots and artificial intelligence. Here’s a recap of that topic.
We’ve all heard of chatbots and artificial intelligence, but how many people really know what they are?
A chatbot is basically a computer program that uses auditory and textual methods to convincingly simulate human conversation. Chatbots can help consumers make e-commerce purchases, book flights and answer questions. Chatbots first gained popularity on Facebook Messenger and have spread like wildfire since the professional world got a glimpse of the possibilities.
Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is a computer system’s ability to mimic human intelligence. It uses cues such as visual perception and speech recognition to perform complex tasks that would normally require human intelligence. The Google Assistant and Alexa are good examples of consumer artificial intelligence, but professional systems can be quite advanced.
Chances are that you have interacted with a combination of these two technologies, whether you knew it or not.
The Rise of Technology
The rise of technology has changed virtually everything about the way we do business. Just ten short years ago, businesses were scrambling to procure web applications for a tech-savvy population. Now, the entire population is immersed in technology, which is becoming a vital part of communication and connection. People look at their phones an average of 150 times daily, and over 90 percent of the time they are messaging or communicating. We are connecting over the internet before we start a new job, before we get married and before we make purchases.
A Rift in Communication
Over a third of all current homebuyers are millennials, meaning they are tech-dependent and they have come of age in a time when just about everything is accessed on-demand. As this population explodes and technology advances, we are seeing a seismic shift in the entire communication process. To capitalize on this shift in communication, the business world must learn how to create personal connections using chatbots and artificial intelligence.
Communication of Choice Has Changed
Gone are the days when people sat on the phone for 15 minutes waiting on a customer service representative. Consumers expect immediacy and real-time experiences around the clock. In fact, over 80 percent of homebuyers admit that an immediate response is one of the most critical elements of their home purchasing decision. Companies who leverage the combination of chatbots and artificial intelligence with conversational use interfaces will not only meet consumer demand, but they will enhance the entire customer journey.
The Future of Messaging
Since up to 50 percent of all chats occur outside of office hours, it is estimated that at least 80 percent of businesses will incorporate some type of chatbot into the customer experience by the year 2020. Consumers want to be able to reach businesses and get an immediate response to satisfy their needs. People are spending an average of almost 100 hours per month messaging, and 98 percent of text messages are read within two minutes.
Combining chatbots and artificial intelligence with human intervention maximizes efficiency and offers the real-time experience that homebuyers are demanding. To find out more about creating personal connections using chatbots and artificial intelligence, check out their presentation and contact BDX today to find out how we can help you forge those connections.