There has been a lot of media threshing on AI, robots, chatbots and others. And I admit that I cover this subject. I also speak on this subject – and I think it’s an exciting period of technology. But I get tired of the media threshing of artificial intelligence.
While we are talking about robots, AI and nothing like someone who really seems to want to serve. One of the reasons why we are so enthusiastic about robots, automation and self-service technology is that we are trying to create space between brands and customers for years. Facing customers can be expensive, drainage of resources and time.
The idea is: “How can we push as many people as possible thanks to the same experience while keeping our operating costs as low as possible?” But let’s make a right speech on robots and automation. Do you want a robot giving you an important medical diagnosis? Would you like to go to a theater and watch a casting of robots play for you? Let’s talk about things that robots cannot do and calm down with this dystopian vision of the future where people lose their usefulness.
10 things that robots cannot do
1. A robot can not look at you in the eyes
The machines will not destroy man as long as we remember that the machines are in service to humanity. Last night, I watched the film “Hidden Figures” – in the film The actor who plays the astronaut John Glenn said about the IBM Mainframe which has drawn information on the potentially incorrect trajectory for its landing “you cannot Not trusting something you can’t look in the eye. ” Do you trust something that cannot interpret events, actions or tones as much as a human? The machines are at the service. It should always be so. When we leave technology loose without great management or interference of a human – it generally does not end well.
2. Consider the feelings of the other person
If an interactive vocal response program (IVR) (a phone tree) could consider and interpret customer feelings at the other end of the phone, the robot could poorly work. Many people have launched their phone in the field, tired of an IVR who does not understand what they (the customer) ask. Or the IVR does not offer what the customer asks. Customer service can be a disorderly company because you are dealing with human emotions. There is a gray area. As customers’ frustration and anger increase, a human being should be able to assess this, sincerely apologize and offer a kind of appropriate service. The recovery of service means that I will give you X for your drawback. Robots cannot consider feelings – really, as a person can. Today, millions of companies are satisfied with terrible RIV experiences, keeping their customers at a distance – never realizing how many customers they lose overnight due to these hearing.
3. Make a person feel or hear
Sometimes working in customer service is like being a psychologist. When a customer contacts you with a problem, the problem is not always the product or service. Life can be messy and sometimes customers just want some attention. By granting customers the attention of customers in need, you invest in a relationship with these customers. It’s not always about selling something. Look at Zappos, the longest call of the call center with a customer was longer than 10 hours. Zappos knows that its call center staff are not purely in the field of helping people buy shoes.
4. Feel empathy
When another person has gone through something you have experienced, and you can share talking about it – there is nothing like it. Humans need and want this connection. We were built to share and connect in this way.
5. Feel sympathy
If a robot says to you: “I’m sorry for your troubles, I can imagine that you have to be very upset” – that doesn’t make you feel better, right? No of course no, because the robot is not authentic. It’s a robot. There is no soul.
6. Take care of a person, the way a mother or grandmother, a father or a grandfather may feel taken care of a person
I was recently in Melbourne for a conference sitting around a table with six other futurists. One of them said that she was traveling in the United Kingdom and went to a hotel at 11:30 p.m. who had no concierge – only a kiosk to record. She felt that it was frightening – there was no one around to greet her. It was uncomfortable. She went to another hotel. After a long day of travel, it’s nice to be welcomed by a smile and an aid. Robots cannot take care of you in the same way as your loved ones can, and they certainly cannot replace them in the same way.
7. Understanding comedy, being good in comedy
The good comedy comes from pain, humiliation – all the good things in life that you cannot simulate. You buy stories through horrible things. I love a good comedy show. My favorite actors can make me laugh, no matter what’s going on in life. A good standing set can repair almost anything. I wouldn’t want to go see a robot play. It wouldn’t be the same.
8. Establish confidence with a person, the way another person is able to establish confidence
We talked about it in almost all sections above. Confidence is established by good coherent behavior of both parties. A robot has no moral compass, it just has a compass. There are many shades in the relationships that robots will never reproduce in their relations with humans.
9. Be a critical thinker, be creative in the way the great minds of our time can be creative
I do not see a robot proposing an idea “to start with” Simon Sinek, or Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability and shame. I wouldn’t want to see a TED conversation delivered by a robot! I do not see a robot writing a great film like the documentary “Icarus” or the original Netflix series such as “Chelsea” or “Glow” or “Ozark”.
10. In a hospital environment, provide bad news
If you had an MRI and expected a diagnosis, would you like this diagnosis to come from a robot? I would certainly not do it. A good doctor who knows how to communicate directly but empathetic can shape the patient’s experience. Would you like the robots to zooming around a hospital making all surgeries and putting diagnostics to patients? There is a human element, especially in disastrous situations, which can be better delivered by a person.
Here are some other things that robots cannot do the robots: MAke great art, INterpret Grand Art, COok of the heart or WOrk of the heart.
We are getting ahead of ourselves with our future dystopian vision of the world’s zombie-apocalypse. These days, our world seems to become a stranger and more foreign. We would all benefit from returning to a story of humanity, to take care of others, to focus a little less on money. Let’s take a step back and assess the use of artificial intelligence, the robot – before throwing it on something that we consider a problem.
Until we lose our own humanity, robots will never replace us completely. Let’s stop the media threshing cycle.
Blake Morgan is a futuristic of the customer experience, principal speaker and author of More is More. Register for his weekly newsletter here.