Artificial intelligence--the mere words bring on a myriad of conflicting emotions. Images of The Matrix swim before your eyes. That is until you remember how helpful Siri is when you can't put your finger on the name of a song on the radio. "You seem to be listening to'Come On Eileen' by Dexy's Midnight Runners, but don't ask me to sing it." Aside from the fact that you should probably know this song, Siri is both useful and playful, no doubt. It's not a new topic of contention, but artificial intelligence (AI) is more relevant than ever.

Wise.io, the leading provider of machine learning applications to help enterprises provide better customer experience, today announced its selection as a "Cool Vendor." This prestigious designation by Gartner, Inc., the global independent information technology research and advisory company, appeared in its recently issued report entitled "Cool Vendors in CRM Customer Service and Support, 2016." The report provides customer service business buyers a view of five innovative vendors with applications to deliver a superior customer service experience and/or reduce operational costs. A key finding from the report notes that "organizations seek innovations to enhance the traditional tools used in customer service functions." One recommendation to those organizations is to evaluate "machine-learning technologies" that can work seamlessly within an existing omnichannel digital contact center to automate responses to customer inquiries and bring this ever growing volume of interactions under control.