Who's afraid of the big, bad bot? - Information Age

When discussing anything related to artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on marketing or customer service, people tend to fall into one of two camps: 1) the futurists, who believe that it will simplify, streamline, and ultimately revolutionise the ways in which brands communicate and interact with their customers; and 2) the skeptics, who believe that the very impersonal nature of AI will eventually undermine the already delicate brand-customer relationship. Regardless of what side of the debate you sit on, there's a good chance you hold a fairly strong point of view on AI. This opinion might be amplified even more in the context of the growing role that chatbots (aka, "bots") now play within today's digital customer experiences. No doubt about it, there's a lot of hype surrounding these technologies and the positive impact they can have on a brand's customer service efforts. But is it really worth all the hype?