Customer Service and The Turing Test

Named for the 2014 English computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing, the Turing Test asks one question. Can an AI consistently pass for human? Although debated by the scientific community, as far back as 2014 scientists have claimed to have passed the test.

There have been some notable examples of powerful AI in action. In 2011, IBM Watson beat an all star cast of past winners on the game show Jeopardy. Deep blue famously beat Garry Kasparov (the then world chess champion) as far back as 1997. While impressive, neither of these examples pass the Turing Test.

Today when talking about AI, the first thing you might think of is Alexa, Siri or Google. Each of these smart assistants offer useful functionality, but it is still very clear you are dealing with an AI. I personally have heard my share of "I'm sorry, I don't know that one" from Alexa.

How does this all pertain to customer service? More and more repetitive customer service work is being done by Chatbots every day. While this can be a great cost savings for companies once implemented, it can also alienate and frustrate customers. Why is this? Its because Chatbot functionality isn't there... YET. Your customer likely doesn't care who they are talking to or typing with. What they do care about is your ability to address their concerns without the added chore of figuring out how to talk to your Chatbot.

Within the next 10 to 20 years, true AI is expected to be achieved. This is of critical importance to anyone making a living in the customer service industry. What jobs will be left when a customer can no longer tell they are talking to a computer? This blog will explore that very big, very exciting question.