In 1979 a relatively unknown London band, The Buggles, released their debut hit song: Video killed the radio star. Of late, I see many business leaders worrying that this song will become the anthem of an industry or profession lost to AI adoption.
The 70’s classic even warned of things being ‘rewritten by machine and new technology’. How fitting. So, will AI kill the industry star? Absolutely and categorically not!
The advent of AI, especially Generative AI has placed the business world on the very brink of a revolution unlike anything else we have ever seen before! This is never truer than in the area of customer service. This business function has become the ‘poster child’ for AI adoption on the promise of massive efficiency gains.
The customer service industry has never been disrupted like this before. Well, maybe except for process automation. Oh, and the internet, Oh, and IVRs. And email. And chat. Oh yeah, and the PABX. OK, so maybe we have been here before – a few times actually.
Grab a glass of your favourite wine and let’s dive into this fascinating fusion of tech and customer care.
Have we been here before?
I do not discount that a world where AI-driven chatbots handle routine inquiries and human agents tackle complex customer issues will result in some downsizing of our frontline workforce. That is inevitable. But the jobs won’t just disappear from one side of the ledger without being balanced out.
History though teaches us that technological advancements often pave the way for new job horizons. Remember when IBM word processors killed the typing pool? Remember when e-commerce sounded the death knell for retail shops? Remember when the steam engine meant farm owners no longer needed as many farm hands? Remember when electricity meant streetlamp lighters were out of a job? I think you get the idea.
In all these cases, the technology removed some roles, and then created even more new roles. Mechanics for the steam engines, digital marketers, web designers and analysts for the web stores, programmers for the word processors and of course, electricians.
AI is, and will continue to, cause similar waves of disruption for businesses, governments, managers, and frontline workers alike.
The new job prospects.
Hidden in the background, the foundational large language models have already created thousands of new jobs for humans in training, evaluating and correcting these models. Granted, not all of that has transpired ethically – every new industry has some pieces go rouge until it is sorted out. However, paid work has been created.
Moving forward, consider about the potential for AI curators. Someone needs to manage the AI applications, right? These people will craft the perfect mix of guardrails, humanity and efficiency.
Then there’s AI ethics leads – guardians who’ll ensure AI-driven decisions are ethical and fair. And let’s not forget the conversational designers, the prompt engineers and the host of new integration teams needed to ‘feed the beast’ that is AI.
As AI generates a massive amount of new information (a phenomenon now being labelled ‘Databesity’) we will need humans to understand what is critical to the business and what is noise. This role will be complimented by teams constantly looking at new use cases for AI adoption to help the business thrive in this new era.
What about my people? And myself?
My best advice? Lean in hard on AI adoption, and lean in now! Start to read, learn, and understand where the opportunities lie in this disruptive force. To use a sporting analogy, the best defence is a good offence.
The same is true for your people, especially the frontline. There are many workers that are truly fearful that AI will simply do away with their job. Remember, that fear thrives in a vacuum. While you are silent the rumours and fear will abound.
Take the opportunity to help educate those you lead on the opportunities and impacts of AI in a balanced discussion that calms nerves and refocuses people.
Are you prepared enough to help yourself and others? If not, the time is now because as the Bugles sang ‘we can’t rewind we’ve gone too far’.
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