Why We Love Bots
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Bots are all the rage. Everyone wants a bot strategy. But why? There is a sense that the AI that powers conversational bots has finally reached a point where it is useful, even magical. There is a sense that if a bot hasn’t passed the Turing test yet, it soon will. And let’s be honest, some of us would much rather talk to a bot in certain situations (cough, “customer service,” cough) than to a surly human.
The promise that bots hold out is that they always have the right answer without making you wait, and a cheerful, always-helpful disposition programmed into their DNA. Companies love bots because they hold out the promise of replacing thousands of bored, expensive workers doing repetitive tasks like answering the same question a million times (“No, you cannot share your account with 30 of your closest co-workers, but here’s a discount code they can use to sign up themselves”) with happy, cheerful, omniscient bots who can answer a million questions at once, and learn from each interaction. They hold out the promise of better service for customers and always knowing the quickest path to conversion. It’s win-win. What’s not to love?
Except all of that is just a promise right now. Yes, AI systems have reached a step-function in capabilities because of machine learning coupled with access to new, deep lakes of data necessary to teach the bots how to behave. But the hype is far outpacing the reality. The Turing test eventually breaks down. When the bot can’t answer a simple question, the spell dissipates and we are left frustrated with no humans in sight.
The current excitement around bots and conversational AI is not ill-founded or wrong-headed. It’s just early. We finally see the possibilities, and can’t wait for the bot-filled future to arrive. It will come in fits and starts. The hype cycle has a natural curve we are all familiar with. The trough of disillusionment is still a year or two away, and then these bots will actually start working as advertised. And we won’t think anything of talking or texting with our computers because we will get better answers and insights from the bots than from most humans. We may even learn to love them.
Just don’t be fooled that they will ever love us back.
(Want to learn more about bots? If you are in FinTech, join our Digital Banking Leadership Council — our first session on January 27, 2017 will be on Chatbots + AI. Or join one of our other Emerging Tech Councils.)
