Most chatbots are not yet smart enough to meet the high expectations of consumers. Although they are quick and handy in some situations, they are also not very intelligent. 65 percent still prefer human interaction on the other end of the chat. That appears from a global survey among 3.500 consumers in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia of Pegasystems.

Seventy-two percent of consumers find chatbots useful to some degree. But opinions about the quality of the interaction are rather divided. The majority (58 percent) find the chatbot experience 'sufficient': some tasks are performed well, others poorly. 18 percent find chatbots ineffective or even annoying and only 16 percent are very satisfied with them.

Significant increase

Analysts expect chatbot usage to rise significantly over the next two years. According to Gartner, 25 percent of customer service and support departments will integrate virtual customer assistant (VCA) or chatbot technology across interaction channels by 2020, up from just 2017 percent in XNUMX.

“Although chatbots are becoming more and more commonplace, the quality of the interaction is lagging behind consumer expectations,” confirms Derk-Jan Brand, vice president and managing director Benelux & Nordics at Pegasystems. “Companies that want to fully rely on digital channels as the first line of contact for their customer service would be wise to integrate their chatbots into the business systems that can do the real work and not just collect bits and pieces of information here and there.”

AI deployment

“In addition, the use of advanced artificial intelligence is a requirement to be able to offer personal real-time interaction. The results of our global research show that companies have a long way to go before consumers feel they can trust chatbots to give them an exceptional experience that sets a company apart.”

Consumers find chatbots especially useful for simple queries that can be handled quickly. The most popular chatbot applications are:

• Tracking an order (60 percent)
• Searching standard information (53 percent)
• Asking standard questions (49 percent)

Respondents also indicated that fast service (56 percent), customization to personal plans (37 percent), and convenience (36 percent) are key benefits of chatbots. When used properly, 43 percent think chatbots can be almost as good as human interaction. 34 percent disagree and 23 percent say they don't know.

Most voiced complaints

Speed ​​and simplicity are only a limited determining factor in winning over today's digital consumer. While most brands claim that artificial intelligence is the power behind their chatbots, the most common complaints about chatbots are:

• Limited intelligence to answer questions correctly (27 percent)
• Lack of context during the conversation (24 percent)
• Robotic involvement with few human features (14 percent)

At the same time, consumers say they will end a chatbot session if the bot can't answer their question (47 percent), makes them do more work than expected (47 percent), or is too vague about the help offered (43 percent). In addition, only 17 percent say they use a bot to purchase goods and services. This further undermines the prospect of direct sales via a chatbot.

Bot holdouts

Within the research, a separate group emerged that does not yet use chatbots at all and does not intend to do so in the near future. These bot holdouts, generally somewhat older respondents, indicate that they have not yet used chatbots because of:

• Not having interacted with chatbots (53 percent)
• A personal preference for only human interaction (30 percent)
• Lack of knowledge about using chatbots (23 percent)

No less than 45 percent of these consumers without chatbot experience indicated that they would not try it in the coming year. 30 percent are still not sure. This is an obstacle for companies that want to expand their channels for digital services. Only 25 percent of these non-users say they would like to experiment with a chatbot, albeit with some reluctance.

Their biggest objections stem from a lack of experience: they just don't know how to use these chatbots (with 46 percent the top concern), no confidence in the effectiveness of chatbots (31 percent), or concerns about security and privacy (27 per cent).

Read also CHATBOT AS AN EXAMPLE OF AI

 

Technology pegasystems