Concerns about the impact of automation on jobs continue to flood the media. Yet at the same time, companies are finding huge benefits in combining artificial intelligence tools and human workers to improve customer service. Recent announcements underscore this trend toward hybrid human-machine approaches.

Nuance’s Nina Coach And Human Input = Improved Virtual Assistant
This week Nuance announced the launch of Nina Coach. In this case, the coach is a human call center specialist who works alongside Nina to improve the virtual assistant’s knowledge base. Nina can determine when it needs help responding to a customer’s inquiry. If such a case arises, Nina can prompt a human agent to enter the live chat stream and access the conversation thread.

The live agent can coach Nina by selecting the best response from potential answers the virtual assistant has already proposed. If an appropriate answer doesn’t appear in the list, the agent can create a new response. The best answer then gets saved into Nina’s working knowledge base so that the virtual assistant has quick access to it the next time the question arises.

LivePerson and IBM add Watson Virtual Agent to LiveEngage
LivePerson and IBM recently announced a solution that integrates IBM Watson Virtual Agent with LivePerson’s LiveEngage platform. Adding automation to the LiveEngage platform enables customers to message brands 24/7 from any channel, be it through SMS, a website, an app, or Facebook Messenger. Routine questions can be routed directly to the Watson-powered virtual agent, freeing up human personnel to handle more complex inquiries.

Questions requiring finesse and expertise are escalated to a live call agent. The LiveEngage and Watson Virtual Agent integration enables the human agent to see the entire interaction and pick off where the conversation left off. That way human and machine can work hand-in-hand.

Genesys Debuts Kate, an AI that is part of G-NINE Innovation Framework
Genesys executives introduced Kate, a customer service-oriented AI, to the 3,500 or so customers, partners, analysts and consultants attending CX17 in Indianapolis. CMO Merijn de Booj provided a backstory to Kate, characterizing her a persona that is there to help humans (both employees and customers) with an emphasis on intelligence, kindness, strength and even a sense of humor. Kate is powered by Genesys’ concept of “Blended AI,” meaning that her ability to recognize an individual’s intent, respond with accurate answers, learn from past activities and constantly improve may rely on technologies provided by third parties, like IBM Watson or Creative Virtual, among others.

In a break-out session that provide a deeper dive into Kate and her capabilities Christopher Connolly, VP of Solutions Strategy, explained that Kate “combines artificial intelligence, bots, machine learning, and micro-applications so companies can deliver personalized, proactive and predictive experiences while running a smart business.” His message is that, by working within the framework, Genesys customers can use a combination of Kate and live staff to solve customer problems. The approach speeds the time to deploy an AI-powered solution while lowering both expense and complexity.

The Trend Toward Hybrid Human-Machine Cooperation
Many companies in the intelligent assistance space are recognizing the value of human-machine collaboration. Intelligent assistance is as much about empowering the human customer support team as it is about offering customers automated self-service options. As organizations continue to discover the potential of human-machine cooperation, we can expect to see more tools emerge that support the trend.

Categories: Conversational Intelligence, Intelligent Assistants

Tags: AI, IBM Watson, Nina Coach, LivePerson, Genesys