When Samantha (AI) starts calling Support (Human)

Imagine a future where your personal AI assistant effortlessly manages all those cumbersome customer service interactions, turning what was once a source of frustration into a seamless experience. Sometimes even negotiating and accepting compensation on your behalf. 

Now picture this: A human discovers an unusual bank transaction and tasks his personal AI bot to investigate it and it calls the hotline where a human agent answers. This scenario flips the traditional roles, placing humans in a support role for AI systems rather than the other way around. 

A glimps into the future

In the 2013 science fiction film ‘Her,’ which features Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore and Scarlett Johansson as Samantha, the protagonist has acquired an AI operating system that allows him to discuss his everyday experiences.  

This reality of the movie is approaching quickly. In the movie, Theodore decides that the AI should be female, so the AI OS names herself Samantha. One of the typical tasks Samantha performs is to search for information based on his requests. In the background, her duties entail communicating with other AIs to conduct inquiries on his behalf. 

Samantha will call soon

Right now there are only few leading CX solutions available that enables AI automation of customer support, and which prepares businesses for the future – by enabling automation of the customer experience.

NTT DATA research indicates that about 65% of all calls can be handled by agentic AI automation and the rest should be forwarded to humans due to their complexity.

However, there is still doubt at the C-level. Most AI projects are focused on implementing basic knowledge search, and leaders are extremely cautious about launching large AI initiatives. In general, 68% of respondents are optimistic towards GenAI, while only 19% are negative. Businesses must leverage this optimism to avoid the risk of falling behind, as personal AI adoption has outpaced enterprise adoption, creating a scenario where personal assistants are likely calling human supporters soon. 

At NTT DATA we already have enabled hundreds of AI contact centers. Many of these projects are currently working in creating agents to handle basic information retrieval and advisory tasks. The next step for them is to handle complex tasks and perform transactions. But the important lesson here is that there is no one size fits all agent that can do everything off the shelf. Implementation of the voice agents, multichannel agents and the agent framework is quick, but getting agents to handle all your support processes is time consuming and requires customization and sometimes business process reengineering. The main reason is that systems handling customer transactions need to be AI enabled, and enterprise AI platform strategy will be required. 

Humans will continue to have an important role and 79% of consumers believe human agents will always have a role in customer service, according to a recent CX prediction from Forbes.

Despite lingering skepticism from some business leaders, the future of customer service is inextricably linked to AI. The prospect of AI agents handling routine inquiries, resolving billing disputes, and even navigating lengthy wait times on behalf of their human counterparts is becoming a reality. As AI agents begin to interact with human service representatives to rectify errors in customer processes, the dynamics of customer support will fundamentally shift. 

Businesses that are early adopters of AI voice agents and integrate them into their support infrastructure will be well-positioned to meet the evolving demands of the future. Conversely, those that resist this technological shift and continue to rely heavily on human agents risk falling behind in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Therefore, my call to action is clear: Start preparing for an AI-powered customer service future now, before your human helpdesk is overwhelmed by a deluge of AI-driven inquiries.