As chatbots become more and more sophisticated, brands are increasingly relying on them as an easy (and inexpensive) way to provide customer assistance. Likewise, plenty of consumers are happy to skip the help line and get straight to the answer. But does that mean chatbots will totally replace live agents? "No doubt many of the simple and repetitive questions can easily be handled by'digital employees,' but consumers still prefer talking to a live person when customer service complexity comes calling," said Tim Dryer, senior director of public and analyst relations at Aspect Software, which recently conducted a poll of agents and consumers to gauge their feelings about the chatbot revolution. "The key take-away is that chatbots could usher in the elevation in importance of the customer service agent as we know them: higher skilled, greater company loyalty, higher job satisfaction. For marketers, this equates to a higher caliber brand ambassador pool."