According to Gartner, three technologies will drive the AI for Customer Service revolution by 2028: generative AI, conversational user interfaces (CUIs), and digital customer service. These tools will enable companies to respond more quickly, accurately, and in a more personalized way to consumers’ needs.
AI for Customer Service is Generative
Gartner predicts that by 2025, 80% of customer service organizations will use generative AI to improve agent productivity and customer experience. Generative AI helps create content, automate responses, and streamline agent work, reducing wait times and improving the quality of interactions.
BENEFITS OF GenerativE AI
- Response automation: advanced chatbots that understand and resolve complex requests without human intervention.
- Improved customer experience: more natural and personalized interactions thanks to the ability of customer service AI to understand context.
- Operational efficiency: reduce operational costs by automating repetitive processes.
Conversational User Interfaces (CUIs)
CUIs allow users to interact with business systems through natural language, improving the usability of digital platforms. Integration with technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft 365 CoPilot is accelerating this transformation.
CUIs advantages
- More intuitive interactions: customers can communicate with business systems in a natural way.
- Multi-channel support: assistance available via voice, chat, email, and social media.
- Adoption of self-service: customers can resolve issues on their own without having to contact an agent.
Artificial Intelligence for Customer Service: An Omnichannel Experience
Digitalization has multiplied customer contact channels, but it has also increased the complexity of customer service management. Gartner emphasizes the importance of “digital conversation orchestration,” or the ability of AI for customer service to offer a seamless experience across channels.
Strategies for an Effective Digital Customer Service
- Channel Integration: unify chat, email, social media and phone in a single management platform.
- Personalization of responses: thanks to the data collected, offer solutions tailored to each customer.
- Reduction of customer effort: eliminate unnecessary steps to make service more efficient.
Generative AI Contact Center: The Role of Operators is Changing
The integration of generative artificial intelligence in contact centers has revolutionized the way companies interact with customers. A new model of “Generative AI Contact Center” is emerging, in which AI does not replace, but supports human operators, improving the quality of service.
CX Today has identified some of the main use cases of generative AI in customer care:
- Automatic generation of content and personalized responses;
- Speeding up typing and creation of responses by agents;
- Automation of post-call tasks, such as summarizing customer request information, compiling reports and collecting feedback.
Generative AI is therefore configured as a “virtual colleague”, which supports human operators in their activities, leaving the latter with the task of supervision, adaptingtamento e controllo della tecnologia.
Human in the Loop in ai for customer service
The concept of “human-centered AI” or “human in the loop” emphasizes the importance of human oversight to avoid errors and inaccurate responses from generative AI. Human feedback is essential to:
Monitor interactions and correct any errors;
Optimize the behavior of chatbots and AI agents for customer service;
Avoid the risk of AI “hallucinations,” that is, unexpected or inaccurate responses.
A study by Entrepreneur revealed that 83% of customers still prefer some degree of human involvement in customer service. Although chatbots and virtual assistants handle simple requests, more complex problems require the emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills of human agents.
McKinsey has long since introduced the concept of a “super-human agent,” an operator who combines human skills and technology to improve the customer experience. In some advanced contact centers, AI handles 95% of requests, leaving 5% of the most critical and complex interactions to human agents.
This evolution allows contact centers to:
- Reduce response times and improve operational efficiency;
- Anticipate customer needs through automated and personalized messages;
Integrate psychometric profiling to adapt communication to the individual user, analyzing the language used during the conversation and personalizing responses and interactions.
How AI for Customer Service Will Change CX
According to the report “From Tech to Trend: How AI Will Shape CX in 2025”, AI for customer service will have an increasingly pervasive impact on the customer experience. The main trends include:
Advanced personalization: AI will allow companies to create experiences tailored to each customer, predicting their needs and suggesting solutions in real time.
Predictive analysis: thanks to machine learning, contact centers will be able to anticipate problems and offer support before the customer even requests it.
Advanced conversational automation: chatbots and AI agents will be increasingly capable of understanding natural language and responding in a contextual way, reducing the need for human intervention.
One of the key aspects of the future of CX will be the ability of AI to understand not only words, but also potential attitudes and inclinations of customers, thanks to the analysis of speech and text of the conversation and the personalization of communication based on tone and context.
The Synergy between AI and Human Factor
According to Statista, 60% of customers are satisfied with interactions with AI agents in customer service. However, the human component remains essential to manage the most complex issues and ensure a truly effective service.
As technology advances, agents will need to be increasingly trained in new AI tools and automated conversation management techniques. Their role will evolve towards the supervision of conversational flows, data analysis and personalization of the customer experience.
Conclusions: THE FUTURE OF AI CUSTOMER SERVICE
AI for customer service is redefining the rules of customer care, making it more efficient, personalized and proactive.
Companies that integrate artificial intelligence into customer service will be able to improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs and gain a significant competitive advantage.
The ultimate goal is to create a contact center where the synergy between AI and the human factor generates concrete added value, improving the customer experience and strengthening brand reputation.
