Will AI mean the end of call centres?

""they will work side by side". Humans though, are not so optimistic. Last year, the chief executive of Indian technology firm Tata Consultancy Services, K Krithivasan, told the Financial Times that AI may soon mean that there is "minimal need" for call centres in Asia. Meanwhile, AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues by 2029, predicts business and technology research firm Gartner."

"There is currently a lot of hype around "AI agents". That is the term given to AI systems that can operate more autonomously and make decisions. They could turbo-charge current non-AI chatbots, known as "rule-based chatbots", which can only answer a set list of questions. My own recent experience with parcel delivery firm Evri's chatbot illustrates the existing, non-AI state of play."

"My parcel had not arrived, and Ezra (the name of the chatbot), offered to "get this resolved straight away". It asked for a tracking reference, and after I had typed that in, it told me that my parcel had been delivered. I could request proof of delivery, and when I did so it showed me a photo of the package at the wrong front door. And there was no option to advance the conversation after this "evidence" was shown."

""Our intelligent chat facility uses tracking data to suggest the most helpful responses and ensure the customer's parcel is delivered as soon as possible, if this has not happened as scheduled," it says. "Our data confirms the vast majority of people get the answers they need from our chat facility, first time, within seconds. We're always reviewing feedback to ensure our services are as helpful as possible, and we continue to mak"

ChatGPT offers a conciliatory message that AI and humans will work together, while some industry leaders warn of a reduced need for call centres. Gartner predicts AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues by 2029. "AI agents" are being promoted as systems that can act more autonomously and make decisions, potentially transforming rule-based chatbots that only handle fixed question lists. A personal interaction with Evri's chatbot exposed limitations: the bot showed incorrect delivery evidence and prevented escalation. Evri says it is investing 57m to improve services and claims its intelligent chat answers most customers quickly.

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