Improving Customer Empathy With Machine Learning

In a February 2018 interview, Liz Goli, Commissioner of Queensland's Office of State Revenue (OSR), sat back in her chair: "The machine can actually improve our empathy with our customers," she reflected. Now that's interesting – the idea that an unfeeling machine could help human beings be more empathetic towards other human beings! Late last year, OSR implemented a successful machine learning prototype, and it's moving forward with a production pilot of this emerging technology. "We don't want a system where the machine is making decisions. But we do want the machine to offer up next best-action recommendations to our staff that they have the option to follow – or not – based on their experience and knowledge of how the legislation should be applied… We'd also like a system that can ingest Big Data and take action within certain parameters. For example, in case of a natural disaster, the machine might be able to find out which customers are impacted and replace debt-collection notices with proactive letters giving additional time to pay."