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Customers Like the Human Touch, Even from a Non-Human
When it comes to customer support, we all like a human touch. But does a human actually have to be present to get the same experience? Not necessarily, according to a new study out of the University of Florida. A human-like virtual assistant may be enough.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) advance, some of us aren’t certain if we are talking to a person or an AI-powered chatbot, said Tom Kelleher, Ph.D., an advertising professor in the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. What matters more than who (or what) is on the other side of the chat, Kelleher has found, is the perceived humanness of the interaction.
Kelleher — along with colleagues at UF, California Polytechnic and the University of Connecticut – carried out a study to develop a measurement for perceived humanness. In the study, participants chatted with bots or human agents from companies like Express, Amazon and Best Buy and rated them on humanness. Sixty-three of 172 participants couldn’t identify whether they were interacting with a human or a machine. But whether the interaction featured AI or not, higher scores of perceived humanness led to greater consumer trust in the companies.
“If people felt like if it was human — either with really good AI or with a real person — then they felt like the organization was investing in the relationship,” noted Kelleher. “They’ll say, ‘Okay, this company is actually trying. They've put some time or resources into this, and therefore I trust the organization.”
Kelleher said it’s important to understand that most of the interactions in the study were simple in nature, and AI bots are unlikely to replace real humans anytime soon.
“If I’m just trying to get an insurance quote, I would almost rather put something into an app then have to make small talk about the weather,” he said. “But later on, if my house floods, I'm going to want to talk to a real person. As the metaverse evolves, understanding when to employ AI and when to employ real people will be an increasingly important business decision.”
The full study may be found in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
Edited by Luke Bellos