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What does ChatGPT think about CX and Journey Management?

A closer look at using generative AI to help inform customer experiences

By: Tina Thau, Director, Journey Management

There’s a lot of content being generated on the use of Generative AI in organizations. Headlines range from embracing to eschewing the use of generative tools with perspectives of how to leverage AI to “improve labor-intensive processes” and “spark positive transformation” to “apprehension and false information” and even “chatbots gone wild.”

I decided to turn to ChatGPT, a free “chatbot” developed by OpenAI where you can simply type in a question or prompt and the tool can respond with a conversational, human-like response…that’s the answer that ChatGPT gave me when I asked it to describe how it works. Which then of course resulted in me continuing to interview ChatGPT on what it thinks about the use of Generative AI tools in CX and Journey Management.

What does AI know about customer experience (CX)?

(Note: ChatGPT responses were edited for brevity)

Me: What term best describes the use of generative AI tools in CX and Journey Management?

ChatGPT: “Game-Changing Augmentation. This term emphasizes the potential for significant positive transformation and competitive advantage while acknowledging the need for responsible and careful implementation to avoid potential pitfalls.”

Me: What are CX pillars or Experience Principles to consider when defining ideal experiences for customers?

ChatGPT: “Here are some common CX pillars and principles that can serve as a foundation for developing a customer-centric approach:

ChatGPT response edited for brevity and accuracy to reflect best practices of common CX Principles used as anchor points to evaluate or define experiences or journeys engaging with products, experiences, tools, or solutions. ChatGPT content flowed into this visual by a real person.

How does AI understand customers?

Me: How can I use generative AI to better understand my customers?

ChatGPT: “Here are several ways you can utilize generative AI to gain insight from customer data and interactions:

• Customer Feedback Analysis: Analyze large volumes of customer feedback, including survey responses, reviews, and social media comments and extract sentiment, identify trends, categorize feedback, and provide valuable insights
• Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: Engage with customers and gather information on their concerns and expectations
• Voice of the Customer (VoC) Analysis: Analyze recordings of customer interactions and extract insights from these conversations to identify pain points and areas for improvement
• Content Generation for Surveys and Questionnaires: Create well-structured surveys and questionnaires to gather specific customer data
• Customer Segmentation and Content Personalization: Segment your customer base into distinct groups based on behavior, preferences, or demographics to use in marketing or product offering strategies”

Me: I’d like to double click on the customer segmentation capability. Can you build a persona about new parents that includes the beliefs, norms, decision-making, memory, fears, anxieties that a new parent would experience?

Chat GPT: “Certainly, here’s a persona for a new parent…

Persona: Emily, the New Parent

Emily, the new parent, values family, gender-neutral parenting, and sustainability. She follows a balanced parenting style, prioritizes Lily’s health, and faces challenges related to sleep deprivation and time management. Her fears and anxieties revolve around Lily’s safety, her competence as a parent, and achieving a healthy work-life balance.

ChatGPT indicated that best practices of creating personas, “businesses and organizations often conduct market research, surveys, interviews, and data analysis to gather insights about their target audience or customer segments. In this case, the persona of Emily is a fictional example created for illustrative purposes and does not represent any specific individual or data source but is a product of general assumptions typically associated with the life stage of becoming a new parent.” Persona image provided by OpenAI’s DALL-E Image Creator with prompt “New Mother.” ChatGPT persona content flowed into this visual by a real person.

Final thoughts with ChatGPT

Me: Given the illustrative nature of this persona, there’s opportunity to add context around a specific customer experience, industry knowledge and incorporate qualitative insights to allow for validation and ensure accuracy, relevance, and empathy building.

ChatGPT: “Using generative AI to build personas can offer benefits, but it also comes with pitfalls, considerations, and constraints. It can offer efficiency, scalability, cost-savings, but there are constraints around data, interpretation challenges and ethical concerns of inadvertently reinforcing stereotypes or unethical use if not carefully monitored and reviewed.”

Me: What are challenges for CX and Journey Management professionals to implement or use AI tools?

ChatGPT: “Here are some reasons: Varied experiences, organizational culture, ethical concern, industry-specific context, and awareness and understanding. Efforts to educate and foster discussion can help bridge these gaps in opinion.”

Me: Those who do not adopt are not as educated or aware?

Chat GPT: “No, I am not suggesting that those who do not adopt generative AI in CX and Journey Management are less educated.”

Me: I still have questions and concerns on how to apply generative AI.

ChatGPT: “I understand that the topic of generative AI and its application in CX and Journey Management can be complex. Whether it’s related to generative AI, CX, Journey Management, or any other subject, feel free to ask, and I’ll do my best to provide information and guidance. Learning is a journey, and I’m here to support you along the way.”

Me: As we think about the use of Generative AI, in the persona use case or in general Journey Management practice, 3 key considerations are apparent — 1. The Need to Prioritize Accuracy over Convenience, 2. Beware of Misinformation, 3. Use AI to Supplement, Not Replace.

ChatGPT: “Your 3 considerations are indeed valid and align with best practices. They provide a clear and actionable framework for using generative AI effectively in persona creation while emphasizing the need for responsible and ethical implementation.”

Thanks, ChatGPT. You’ve given me a lot to consider as we think about the potential of utilizing generative AI in evolving our Journey Management discipline. Incorporating it as part of gathering assumption and general insights to inform experience principles or personas, seems beneficial, but we also need to consider the context and need to validate for accuracy. There’s an opportunity for it to support our efforts in delivering exceptional customer experiences across our organization, but we should be mindful to use AI to supplement, not replace (at least that’s what ChatGPT said 😉).