The Rise of Generative AI in Customer Experience: A Look at the Future of Virtual Agents
The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing customer experience (CX) in ways we never thought possible. In just a few short months, we have seen virtual agents deployed at enterprise scale, delivering real results and driving down operational costs. The feasibility questions that once surrounded the use of generative AI have been answered, and the future looks brighter than ever.
One of the key concerns was the responsiveness of virtual agents – could they provide answers fast enough to engage customers in a meaningful conversation? Thanks to innovations like the Claude 3 Haiku LLM, developed by Anthropic and hosted in Amazon Bedrock, virtual agents can now deliver conversational responses in 2.5 seconds or less. This level of speed and efficiency is transforming the customer experience landscape.
Another concern was the accuracy of virtual agents – could we trust the answers they provide to customers? With integrated hallucination mitigation, abusive language detection, and accuracy guardrails, virtual agents powered by generative AI are now more reliable than ever. DoorDash’s success in leveraging these technologies is a testament to the power of AI in delivering accurate and relevant responses.
Testing and monitoring virtual agents was also a challenge, given the massive number of permutations involved. However, with automated test and evaluation frameworks built using tools like Amazon Sagemaker, businesses can now efficiently validate and maintain confidence in their AI solutions. This level of scalability and automation is driving significant improvements in CX while reducing costs.
As we look to the future, the opportunities for leveraging generative AI in CX are endless. Business leaders are now asking where they should start and how they can harness the power of AI to drive value for their customers. In the next CX Insights blog post, we will explore generative AI innovation learnings from other enterprises and discuss starting points, business value, team mindset, and technology. Stay tuned for more insights on how generative AI is transforming the customer experience landscape.
Author Matt Taylor, Principal Product Manager for Amazon Connect at AWS, is at the forefront of understanding how AI will impact contact centers and drive change for customers. With a passion for discovering new technologies and exploring the human condition, Matt brings a unique perspective to the world of AI and CX.
