Someone once asked me why I always whisper when I’m at home, I answered by saying; it’s better to keep it quiet as I’m not sure if Mark Zuckerberg is listening… She laughed, I laughed, Alexa laughed and then Siri laughed.
When thinking about the future of Artificial Intelligence, no one can be blamed for feeling paranoid or fearful as to what it might mean for them on a personal level. No one is excited by the prospect of losing their job to a robot.
Here are some reasons why we believe A.I. can’t be considered a reliable replacement for the human voice:
- AI-based Machines and Software Do Not Have Emotional Intelligence:
Emotional intelligence is the backbone of any functional human interaction.
People are not robots and dislike being treated as if they are.
Our ability to:
- Express
- Interpret feelings
- Emotions
This helps us to be able to read people and have a better understanding on how to connect with them. In customer service, personal interaction is our bread and butter, our customers want to feel that they are being understood and taken seriously.
A.I. is formed with precision and accuracy in mind therefore they lack the human capacity for empathy and cultural sensitivity. Only a human can pick up on the mood of the person they are talking with and know the right thing to say.
Only humans can build effective and functional business relationships with other humans.
- A.I.’s Can’t Do Expressive Work:
Effective communication is almost entirely based on expression and nuance. Holding a conversation requires a certain amount of improvised creativity, something an A.I. will never be fully capable of.
Your working relationship with your customer will be based upon your ability to interpret and assess your customer’s need and mood and associate it with what is being said.
You don’t want to lose a customer to a faulty algorithm now do you?
- A.I.’s Can’t Build Relationships:
A lot of our daily working lives are built on the foundation of one sort of relationship or another. Multiple studies have shown that the best solutions to problems are often built by teams of people, all working towards a common goal and helping each other along the way.
Emotional bonds are often the driving force behind long-lasting customer-client relationships. These long-lasting relationships are paramount to the success of any company.
- A.I. Can’t “Think Outside the Box”:
As mentioned earlier, A.I. is good when it comes to matters requiring a high degree of accuracy and precision. This often means that their solutions to a problem may be very formulaic and even unattainable in a societal context.
In many cases, the solution to a problem may lie outside the realm of what is considered normal or practical.
Think of a GPS, if you ask it to it will show you the quickest route to your destination…regardless of context. This is not always a viable solution as you could end up in a hostile environment if you are unfamiliar with the area and your surroundings. Humans can provide out-the-box solutions as we are more in-tune with cultural sensitivities and human emotion.
Conclusion:
While I can understand the fear that surrounds the idea of an A.I.-based conquest of humanity, I think a lot of it is rooted in our misunderstanding of the purpose of A.I.
A.I. is here to assist humans in their day-to-day lives and not here to replace humanity. It would be down right impossible as the essence of humanity lies in our ability to feel as well as respond to emotions and this is something an A.I. will never be capable of.
