Conversational AI Trends: Navigating the Future

It’s hard to believe that a decade ago, there was no Siri, chatbots were rare sights, and computers that held intelligent conversations were only seen and read about in science fiction. As we enter a fresh, new decade with artificial intelligence (AI) at the heart of technological innovation, it’s no surprise that companies are looking to adopt a Conversational AI platform to maximize business efficiency.

The year 2023 will be an exciting time for Conversational AI trends as AI chatbots join forces with other advanced technologies to enhance user experiences like never before.

As AI continues to make waves across various industries, it is essential to note the latest trends in Conversational AI that will help organizations take 2023 by storm. One of the key trends that organizations follow to maximize business efficiency is buying Conversational AI solutions rather than building them.

When drawing up the pros and cons of building or buying Conversational AI platforms, one of the first things businesses consider is the cost of implementation. When observing monetary and manpower costs, developing a Conversational AI platform from scratch is more expensive than buying a pre-built solution because of the resources needed for development and customization.

In most cases, organizations are challenged with a lack of AI expertise, leaving them with no choice but to hire external AI professionals or dedicate significant time to training internal employees. Both options are incredibly costly because companies either have to eat away at their budget or waste valuable time to ensure proper training.

Conversely, implementing a third-party Conversational AI solution is more cost-effective because it requires fewer resources to launch. While building custom Conversational AI platforms requires a significant amount of time and prep work, purchased Conversational AI solutions come with pre-defined workflows, eliminating the need for additional training or data cleansing.

Purchased Conversational AI solutions also self-learn from existing knowledge bases and data sources. By quickly ingesting historical data and continuously learning from every interaction, third-party Conversational AI solutions remove the need for constant human intervention, saving employees valuable time to work on more productive tasks.

In an era of increasing connectivity through digital experiences, no business can afford to underplay how pivotal effective customer service is in boosting user engagement and fostering brand loyalty. Although rule-based chatbots have been traditionally used as digital aids to customers for many years, organizations are quickly upgrading to AI chatbots to revolutionize service experiences. While it may appear as though all chatbots are the same, rule-based chatbots and Conversational AI chatbots are quite different from each other in terms of functionality, sophistication, and level of impact.

Rule-based chatbots, or decision-tree chatbots, are simple in infrastructure, ability, and function. As the name suggests, they use a series of predefined rules installed by human agents to interact with customers. Because rule-based chatbots follow a scripted guideline, their responses to user queries are limited and robot-like, making most interactions with customers bland and unhelpful. These fruitless interactions drive customer satisfaction levels down, making it unlikely for them to return for future resolutions.

Conversational AI chatbots are more advanced and sophisticated compared to rule-based chatbots. With unsupervised natural language processing (NLP), natural language understanding (NLU), and machine learning (ML) capabilities, Conversational AI chatbots can understand and extract user intent to generate immediate and appropriate responses to customers.

Unlike rule-based chatbots, Conversational AI chatbots are not confined by a set of rules, allowing them to engage in more fluid, human-like conversations. By providing accurate resolutions and engaging in a lively manner, Conversational AI chatbots enhance user experiences, making them eager and excited for future interactions.

Leveraging unsupervised NLP and NLU comes as an advantageous feat of Conversational AI chatbots because they understand the customer, their needs, and how best to serve them. Regardless of how customers frame their questions, Conversational AI chatbots can identify and extract user intent, ensuring accurate resolutions to support requests the first time around. Customers can also communicate freely with Conversational AI chatbots without the fear or frustration of being misunderstood. Rather than catering to the needs and limitations of a chatbot, conversations are more natural and make them feel respected and appreciated as valued customers. This sense of value encourages customers to continue coming back, helping organizations foster a strong and loyal customer base.

Conversational AI chatbots also eliminate long customer wait times for responses and resolutions. By understanding what the customer is asking for, Conversational AI chatbots provide immediate answers to support requests, making self-serving more streamlined and appealing to customers. As more and more customers serve themselves, service agents can focus less on solving repetitive queries and more on handling high-priority issues.

Conversational AI solutions not only benefit customers but internal workforces as well. For IT and customer service departments, high call volumes and escalating support requests overwhelm service agents, driving down their productivity, efficiency, and enthusiasm for work. By empowering employees and customers to serve themselves, Conversational AI solutions reduce call and support request volumes, allowing service agents to focus more on higher-value tasks. This shift in focus will minimize workplace stress, boosting overall morale, productivity, and operational efficiency. 

Implementing AI in the workplace and HR departments will save time on routine tasks such as onboarding and employment verifications take time away from delivering efficient resolutions to specialized employee inquiries or developing strategies to reduce risk. By streamlining repetitive processes through task and workflow automation, Conversational AI solutions enable HR teams to focus more on meaningful activities, such as ensuring employees are safe and well-equipped to work comfortably and productively.

As businesses navigate these unprecedented times, Conversational AI solutions make it easier and more convenient for remote workforces to excel at home. While working from home prevents most employees from efficiently performing their day-to-day responsibilities, Conversational AI comes to the rescue by automating repetitive tasks and workflows.

With Conversational AI solutions offloading mundane tasks, those who work from home no longer have to scramble for resources or spend a significant amount of time searching for answers. Instead, remote employees can dedicate more time to performing productive tasks while being in the comfort of their own homes.

Aisera offers the most feature-comprehensive and technology-advanced self-service automation solution in the market, which blends Conversational AI and Conversational RPA into one SaaS cloud offering for IT Service Desks and Customer Service.

By leveraging these advanced capabilities, Aisera proactively auto-resolves requests to meet ever-growing user demands for quick responses, immediate resolution, and personalized interactions across all channels. With this scalable, easy-to-deploy solution, your organization can improve service team productivity, reduce operating costs, and enhance employee and customer experiences. Book a Free conversational AI demo today!