Generative AI is not a quick fix for your products or services
For businesses, keeping customers happy is crucial, but it’s getting tougher. Striking a balance between giving a great customer experience whilst making a profit, has led more and more companies to offer products and services that are subpar.
At the same time, the buzz around Generative AI reached a peak. Companies rushed to strategise and launch new features and applications — from developer support to writing tools. The excitement has led to learning and advancements, but also some troubling outcomes. For example, biassed AI-generated stickers on WhatsApp or privacy concerns with Snapchat’s My AI.
Quoting Abdelrahman Hassan, Generative AI has been used as a “lubricant” to enhance existing experiences.
So far, Generative AI has not demonstrated it can fix broken services.
If a service is already broken, GenAI might make it faster, more efficient and more cost-effective. But it may not help meet user needs. Or help organisations meet those needs in a way that is caring and empowering.
Historically, organisations struggle to meet peoples’ needs where they are, and in the way they want.
Sadly, organisations tend to deliver services that reflect their organisational charts.
It’s time to see Generative AI as a backstage capability for service providers, rather than a product feature. As Mauro Rego eloquently put in his talk at the SDN global conference last month (link to come if it’s available one day) the ultimate value still lies in helping people achieve their goals.
The opportunity is in LLMS, alongside APIs and other AI systems, stitching services components together. At IF, we call this paradigm Learned Services.
Learned Services go beyond quick fixes in products and services.
Instead of applying LLMs to individual features, Learned Services involves applying LLM capabilities into the architecture of an experience.
This approach empowers users to meet their needs and desires beyond the limitations of a single service.
Learned Services offers a future where services meet more user needs — and better:
- Fostering more direct relationships: customers are empowered to choose the best way to fulfil their needs. Look at the proliferation of direct-to-consumer companies from meal planning to children’s toys.
- Enabling personalisation and flexibility: service experiences are not predetermined, but can adapt to a person’s individual needs. A notable example is Netflix, which creates unique interfaces for each user.
- Addressing more complex wants: service experiences will span multiple companies, answering multiple and broader needs in one journey. One-stop-shop aggregators, exemplified by pioneers like Expedia, have been working on such integrated offerings for decades (e.g. tackling travelling as a whole, rather than booking single services)
Some of this will be automated, some of this will be invisible, some of this will be designed (and some will not).
Businesses need to be ready to evolve
AI isn’t a magic fix for a flawed product. Whilst experimenting with chatbots and automation is important, when it comes to sustaining and maintaining customer relationships Learned Services can help identify ways to boost loyalty and trust.
For those ready to look around the corner, reach out at hello@projectsbyif.com
