Artificial Intelligence is without a doubt one of the hottest topics in the world of customer experience right now. But with hype comes a considerable amount of fear, as organisations are becoming increasingly worried about getting left behind or failing to properly commence their AI journey.

I ain't lookin' for praise or pity
I ain't comin' 'round searchin' for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that human touch

-Bruce Springsteen

There are clear points in the customer journey or “moments of truth” in which human interactions are strongly preferred to a chatbot, according to new research carried out by Fifth Quadrant in partnership with LogMeIn. The study concludes that a customer journey in which a human/robot blended approach is effectively employed will deliver superior customer experience (CX).

Nobody likes getting bamboozled.

In the world of customer experience (CX), trust is a major currency and is frequently ranked as the most important attribute a brand can cultivate in its customers.

When your customers trust you, they are more likely to buy your products or services, refer you to a friend, share information with you, and even forgive you when you have that one PR nightmare.

Avaya (NYSE: AVYA) creates intelligent communications experiences for customers and employees via innovative solutions that enhance and simplify communications and collaboration.

Steve Nuttall, Head of CX Research at Fifth Quadrant, recently sat down with Avaya’s Managing Director ANZ Peter Chidiac to discuss a range of topics including Artificial Intelligence (AI), customer experience (CX), the omnichannel, the move from personalisation to individualisation, and smart cities. 

As the cost of artificial intelligence (AI) comes down and its applications become more widespread, companies are increasingly exploring and executing implementation. Fifth Quadrant spoke with Ryan Lester, Director of Customer Engagement Technologies at LogMeIn to get his views on AI, chatbots, contact centres, and what LogMeIn’s products can do for customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX).

SYDNEY, 11 December 2018, Flamingo Ai Limited (ASX: FGO), the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning company and provider of Cognitive Virtual Assistant and Knowledge Analysis, Management and Retrieval technologies, has announced the launch of MAGGIE for Auto Insurance, a Cognitive Virtual Inquiry Assistant that assists customers and employees with inquires related to auto insurance.

Although Australians have a reputation for being early adopters of technology, recent research by Fifth Quadrant indicates that Australian contact centres may be struggling to keep pace with innovations taking place globally.

You are probably familiar with the Turing Test, but in case you aren't, here is a quick refresher. Developed by Alan Turing in 1950, the goal of the Test is to see if an artificial intelligence (AI) can successfully trick a human into believing that it too is human. The test is typically administered by having judges who communicate via text message with a mix of human and AI participants and then try to correctly identify the AIs among them.

It's usually a bad idea to say this is the "Year of ______".

For example, it's seems like it's been the "Year of VR" every year since 2012 and it still hasn't taken off. So it is with great caution that I label 2018 The Year of the Chatbot. But, to be fair, there are strong indications that this will be the case.

One of the key takeaways from our recently released 2018 Australian Contact Centre Benchmark Report is that use of webchat technology is on the rise.

With 2018 well and truly upon us, it's time to reflect on the year past and ponder the year ahead.

Last February, Fifth Quadrant reached out to some of Australia's customer experience (CX) Thought Leaders to find out where they believed CX would head in 2017. Fifth Quadrant spoke with experts from Microsoft, LogMeIn, Oracle, Verint and Flamingo who predicted that 2017 would see the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, bots, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in CX.