Should a bot disguise as a human rep?

As winter is knocking on our doors once again, you decide to get a car wash season pass. But instead of going to the gas station directly, you’re checking their website. A chat box appears where supposedly, an individual is welcoming you and offering assistance. You ask for the rates and simple questions, and the answers satisfy you.

Deception

What if you get to know, after a day or two that the “person” you talked to was a bot? Since you didn’t share any personal details, you might applaud at the fact that a bot solved your queries. But, you have technically received this news from a computer. The bot was not instructed to announce itself as a machine. Will your reaction change after this revelation?

What is a bot?

Before I go forward, I should explain what a bot is. According to Oxford dictionaries, a chatbot is “A computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.”

The purpose of artificial intelligence in our lives has increased drastically. These days, one may not even be aware of the fact that they’re conversing or processing stuff through a machine!

Surveys

Several surveys have been conducted where people state their views in talking to a bot. It appears that people are comfortable so long as the bot was able to address their needs. However, will the population appreciate that they were kept in the shadow as to the respondent’s identity? People also complain that they would be “creeped out” if they got to know that they’re talking to a bot.  

On the other hand, there is a large part of the community that expresses happiness over the fact that humans are now able to create and use bots. Furthermore, some find it interesting to converse with a machine.

What I think

In its entirety, a bot should:

  1. Establish trust with customers. This is only possible if the bot manages to induce transparency with the disclosure of its identity in the beginning.
  2. Set the right expectations. When the bot successfully reveals itself, a parameter can be set that explains what the bot can and cannot do. Anything that exceeds its database will be sufficient to translate the fact that it is unable to complete the task. Therefore, customers will not be disappointed after all. The interface of our Conversational AI engine solves routine tasks and assists dealership consumers to the best of his abilities. DealerAI chatbot has been programmed to reveal its identity before the chat begins, and a collection of the tasks he is best at. Our stat showed that the satisfaction rate increased by 54% as a result. 

Conclusion

Just as human-to-human relationships thrive on trust, transparency, and the right expectation, human-to-bot relationship, albeit transactional most of the time, rely heavily on the same merits.  Should your dealership get an AI Chatbot? Let’s find out in our next blog: 5 Things to Consider Before Getting an AI Chatbot for Your Dealership