A Guide to ChatbotsPublished: 26-Feb-2024 |
| What are Chatbots? Imagine interacting with a computer program that can hold a conversation with you, answer your questions, and even complete tasks. That's the magic of chatbots! They are software applications designed to simulate human conversation through text or voice interactions. What we do with Chatbots: We specialize in implementing chatbots, which involves the entire process from conception to deployment. Here's a breakdown of our key responsibilities: Understanding your needs: we work closely with clients to understand their specific goals and desired functionalities for the chatbot. This includes identifying the target audience, the purpose of the bot (e.g., customer service, information provision, lead generation), and the platform it will operate on (e.g., website, messaging app). Designing the chatbot: Based on the gathered information, we design the chatbot's conversation flow, personality, and user interface. This involves creating the script for the conversation, ensuring it's natural and engaging, and determining how users will interact with the bot (e.g., text prompts, buttons). Developing the chatbot: We utilize our technical skills to build the chatbot using various tools and programming languages depending on the chosen platform and complexity. Testing and training: Once the chatbot is built, we thoroughly test its functionality and responses to various user inputs. we may also utilize machine learning techniques to train the bot to learn and adapt over time, improving its accuracy and comprehension. Deployment and maintenance: Finally, we ensure the seamless integration of the chatbot into the chosen platform and provide ongoing maintenance and support to guarantee optimal performance. The Benefits of Chatbots: There's a reason why chatbots are gaining popularity across industries. Here are some of the key benefits they offer: 24/7 Availability: They can provide assistance and information anytime, anywhere, making them ideal for customer service and answering frequently asked questions. Increased Efficiency: Chatbots can handle routine inquiries and tasks, freeing up human resources to focus on more complex issues. Improved Customer Experience: By offering personalized and fast responses, chatbots can enhance customer satisfaction and engagement. Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to human representatives, chatbots are generally more cost-efficient, especially when handling high volumes of inquiries. Conclusion: Chatbots are a powerful tool for businesses and organizations to enhance communication, streamline processes, and improve user experience. By implementing them effectively, we can help you achieve your goals and leverage the advantages this technology offers. If you've read this far, you should know that everything stated above is 100% true. It was also 100% written by an AI chatbot! |
How welcoming is your business?Published: 14-Feb-2024 |
| How welcoming is your website?
What is the purpose of your website? Do you have a website because everyone else has one and you don't want to be left out? When a person visits your site, what would you like them to do? What would you want to achieve?
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Chatbots don't work!!Published: 09-Feb-2024 |
| You might say to me "How can you say chatbots don't work when you are trying to sell chatbots?"
My answer is simple: "Chatbots are very different to AI chatbots. Many websites nowadays have chatbots. You open the chatbot and it asks for your name, email etc, by which time you are already irritated. Then you ask a question, but it only really has a list of frequently asked questions. Unless you know the keywords the FAQs are useless. At the best all the chatbot can do is list some of its frequently asked questions. If you want to understand an issue, the chatbot is useless. It's no more than a Contact Us form where you type up the message and invariably the company doesn't bother to respond. This is tragic. I have many times been a genuine potential customer and due to lack of a response, I've gone elsewhere. You wonder why a company bothers to have a web site or Contact Us form or chatbot if they don't respond. Are AI chatbots any better? In theory, YES, but in practice many don't work. Let's put it out there right now that some AI chatbots, like ours, DO WORK. Other AI chatbots don't work. Yes, you can ask an AI chatbot a question and it will answer, but often the answer doesn't make sense. Search for the "DPD AI chatbot" to see an example. Why is this? It's not a chatbot or an AI issue, but a people problem. They implement a chatbot by taking someone's code and using it without proper implementation or testing. The software might be good, but unless it is tested and the testers understand the business, it will always go wrong. So, how are we different? We firstly get to understand the business and what they would need from an AI chatbot. We then look at the knowledgebase that we will need to give to the chatbot. If it's a list of frequently asked questions, we know that more knowledge is required and we will collect and use it to train the AI chatbog Once we have an initial knowledgebase and trained the AI chatbot we start testing it. We start with a standard list of questions and add additional questions. We use different wording to ensure that the AI chatbot can understand the complexities of the business. In one case and long before we went live we discovered that on an entire website the client's email address was never mentioned! The only email address that was on the web site was that of the web designer. In another case the telephone number on the website was a discontinued cell number! If we had not performed a proper due diligence and testing the AI chatbot would have given out the wrong email address and the wrong telephone number. It also confirms that a website is not an ideal source of data for an AI chatbot. A lot more work and data is required. Our next step is to re-train the AI chatbot. This is an on-going process and every question and every answer is evaluated and updated if necessary even after the AI chatbot goes live. |
What can a Chatbot do for you?Published: 19-Dec-2023 |
| Almost everyone knows about chatbots. You've used or seen or at least heard of ChatGPT or Bard. If you've used it a lot, you'll be quite impressed that you can talk to the chatbot in a conversational way and get a decent answer. This is the power of an AI chatbot. Wait, there's a lot more. A personalised chatbot that has been trained on your business, your website, your products and services, your policies and procedures can give answers in the same conversational way to your customers and potential customers and staff. "What can it do for me", you may ask. It's all very well having my own trained chatbot, but how will it help me? Let's ask you some questions: Do you have customers/clients calling you for information about your products or services? How much time does the business spend answering these queries? How many employees are kept busy replying via email, whatsapp, answering telephones, returning? If those people had to work 24/7 your costs would be even more. A personalised chatbot will take a large amount of the support load off those employees. It works 24/7. No, it will not answer every query, in which case it could give an email address, telephone number or Whatspp numbers or ask for the customer's details and a staff member can call back. In our estimate it will answer 90%, of all generic queries and it works 24/7. That saves 90% of your employees’ time in doing customer support. What about product recommendations? How often have you asked a person at a shop for assistance and they cannot help, or have to refer you to another person. It happens regularly to me at my previous-favourite hardware shop. Look at this conversation with an AI bot installed for one of our clients: Potential customer: "My dog has sores on his elbow and it's raw and he keeps licking it. What can I do?" AI Chatbot: "I'm sorry to hear about your dog's sores. It sounds like your dog may be suffering from a licking granuloma, which is a common skin disorder in dogs. To help treat the sores and prevent further licking, I recommend using the MPS single paw recovery sleeve. This sleeve is designed to protect and support the wound site, allowing it to heal and recover. It is comfortable for your dog to wear and will help break the licking cycle. You can find more information about the recovery sleeve and how it can help on our website: [MPS Recovery Sleeve](https://lnkd.in/gcpfBsCx)" This conversation happened at 10:37am on a Sunday. I suggest there's no better way to handle a query and sell a product on a Sunday morning when no one is at the office. SPECIAL OFFER (*) to SMEs: Your own AI chatbot at R1000 per month, no long term contracts. It will do product or customer or employee support like the above chatbot. We setup in less than 24 hours and fine tune over the next month. (*) Ts and Cs apply |
An incredible chatbotPublished: 02-Oct-2023 |
| "I'm reeling at the power of the bot", said one of our clients today. "It's impressive how much can be done in such a short time." All we did is take his website and connected it to an AI chatbot. Now the chatbot can answer any question related to the website. It speaks English in a natural way. The process IS fast and it is very impressive that it can be done in such a short time. The whole process took us less than an hour (and it's quite a big website). The client now wants us to fine-tune the answers to make them even more relevant to their business. This is where the power of AI will really show up and of course our specific service where we are very concerned about the quality of the answers. We monitor all questions and answers and manage the source data that goes into the chatbot. A simple chatbot is not only fast to implement, but very low cost, and yes, incredibly impressive. If you want to try out a simple chatbot, let me know. (If you have a small website or small amount of data, we can do it for you at no charge so you too can be "reeling") If you have some fairly complex requirements, we can do that too. |
Who will win the AI Wars? ChatGPT or Bard or someone else?Published: 28-Sep-2023 |
| When I first saw chatbots, like ChatGPT I was blown away. I had always thought that Google would win the AI wars and was quite surprized that they had nothing to compete with ChatGPT (at the time). My reasoning was their search engine is way ahead of the competition. They were already using AI in search and in search terms. Did you mean "where do I find customers?" they'd ask if you said "where do I find costumers". Their alogorithm would help complete the sentence and of course spell check and translate was always available. Nevertheless, they launched late with Bard. The initial versions of Bard were not very good, but they improved it very, very quickly. The latest version of Bard (bard.google.com) is quite amazing. It is free to use and combines search with AI, which ChatGPT (3.5) lacks. They are still calling it an experiment, so when it is fully launched it is going to be even better. ChatGPT still has one big advantage. It is open to developers and there are hundreds of add-ons/plug-ins. Right now the best AI tool to use to create your own expert chatbot for your website or business would be ChatGPT based, but Bard is beginning to offer this to selected users. I would estimate that by the end of the year, Bard will have nearly as many plug-ins and features as ChatGPT, which itself is undergoing huge improvements. Interesting times ahead. If you're not using AI in any form in your business, call us for a 60 minute Zoom session. Visit https://lnkd.in/g2YweF6d |
AI has become unspecialPublished: 19-Sep-2023 |
| AI has become unspecial. Before you think that I’ve got tired or bored with AI, let me assure you this is not the case. AI is unspecial, because it is becoming main stream. More and more people are using it for day to day tasks, even mundane tasks. Let me explain about the unspecialness of AI with an analogy. Back in the mid 1980s I saw an advert for a laptop – it was more of a dragtop and had a portable telephone connected to it. I was blown away and thought it would be amazing to buy such a laptop. Some investigations showed me that these things were called “cell” phones and the local Post Office (that used to run the telephone system, ie the forerunner of Telkom) did not know what a cell phone was. Eventually Vodacom and its competitors arrived and the cell phone started working in South Africa. It was a very special innovation. Nowadays everyone has a cell phone and it is one of the most useful technical tools to have. It’s become unspecial, but essential. Similarly with AI, but it has gained recognition faster. Everyone I talk to knows of or has used ChatGPT or Bard. Recently I went to a birthday party and the person making the speech started by saying “ChatGPT says this about ChatGPT launched to the public less than 1 year ago. In its first month it gained 100 million users. Its growth rate, combined with Bard, Bing and all the other AI apps have made it into many peoples’ day to day lexicon. That’s why it is unspecial, but essential. It hasn’t taken off quite as fast in business. Too many people think it’s an IT task. It’s not. It’s as much an IT task as Whatsapp. Some people may ask the IT expert to set up Whatsapp, but they would never ask an IT expert to read a Whatsapp they received or to send a Whatsapp. Similarly with Bard/ChatGPT etc. In business you use it just like your cell phone or Excel. It’s just another very useful unspecial tool. |
How a Chatbot can help your businessPublished: 12-Sep-2023 |
| My forecast: In 2 years time, most businesses will have, not 1, not 2, but more than 5 chatbots. Each will handle specific issues inside and outside the business. Many chatbots will be quite small and limited in scope. They will also cost very little to implement and run. Others may be quite complex, have lots of logic built into them and have huge knowledge bases. It all depends on the need. What is a Chatbot? A chatbot is a computer program or AI system designed to simulate conversation with human users, typically through text-based or voice-based interactions. It's often used for tasks like answering questions, providing information, or assisting with various online services. Note the key points in this definition: “simulate conversation”, “through text-based or voice-based”. Basically you can communicate to a chatbot by typing or talking. Then, the best feature: “used for tasks like answering questions”, “or providing information”. How can a Chatbot be used in a Business? Think how many times customers ask for information. How many staff ask questions of other staff, other people, of suppliers. Almost every internal telephone call is someone asking a question or providing information. What types of questions? Some examples.
A chatbot could answer many of these questions. You may ask why you would want to use a chatbot when the person who knows the answer is immediately available? The answer is TIME: No, the person who knows the answer is not always available or is possibly busy with other things. Let’s save that person’s time. A chatbot on the other hand IS always available. There is another benefit to the chatbot having the required knowledge: This is a good way to store and disseminate company knowledge. If the one expert in the company were to leave, without leaving detailed notes of his job, the business could potentially encounter many problems including closing down. Even if it is simple type questions that are not crucial to the business, a chatbot, or many chatbots are the way to capture and store and answer questions. Why use a chatbot when all the information has been emailed or has been put in a folder somewhere on a server? The benefit here is you can communicate with a chatbot – ask general questions to get a specific answer whereas if you don’t know the folder name, or when the email was sent, you have to spend time looking for it. The chatbot saves this inconvenience. Why have a chatbot and not a call centre? The two are not mutually exclusive. A chatbot works 24/7, whereas many smaller call centres do not. Call centres tend to cost a lot more, telephone systems, accommodation for staff, staff themselves, training of staff amongst others. It makes sense to keep the call centre for complex questions where the chatbot does not currently have answers. Over timer the chatbot will have answers to maybe 90% of all questions. Maybe some customers like (I suppose) talking to a call centre agent rather than a chatbot. Is a chatbot only for your website? No, definitely not. Most chatbots will not need to be on websites and can be on intranets. Once installed a chatbot is very convenient, easy to use and most of all saves time. Start with your first chatbot now. Call us to build it. |
That Don't Impress Me MuchPublished: 08-Sep-2023 |
| In the song by Shania Twain she sings about things that don't impress her like a new car or being Brad Pitt or thinking you are Elvis or being a rocket scientist. We'll, I'd say if this post "don't impress you much", I'm going to consign you listening to Celine Dion for the next month. I wanted a Chatbot to be an interviewer for a person looking for a job. All I said was: Be an interviewer chatbot. Ask me the job I'm applying for and then ask questions around it, until I say "Finished". It took 20 seconds to type up that sentence. If the following conversation "don't impress you much" then you are superhuman! ================================================ Me: Be an interviewer Chatbot. Ask me the job I'm applying for and then ask questions around it, until I say "Finished" ChatGPT: Of course, I'd be happy to conduct a job interview. To get started, could you please specify the position you are applying for? Me: Chef in a restaurant in Johannesburg ChatGPT: 1. Can you tell me about your previous experience as a chef, including the types of cuisines you've worked with and any notable achievements? Me: 3 years at hotel school. Part time in a takeway (MacDonalnds) while studying ChatGPT: Thank you for sharing that. It's good to know about your background. Now, moving on to the next question: 2. What inspired you to pursue a career in culinary arts, particularly in the context of a restaurant in Johannesburg? Me: Even while at school I enjoyed working in the kitchen, cooking for my family ChatGPT: That's great to hear about your passion for cooking, even during your time at school. Now, let's explore further: 3. How do you handle high-pressure situations in a busy kitchen, and can you provide an example of a challenging experience you've had in a previous kitchen? Me: I think cooking is always high pressure. The food cannot be over or under cooked so there is always time pressure. ChatGPT: Indeed, cooking can be quite demanding, and time pressure is a constant factor in a kitchen. Now, let's proceed to the next question: 4. Johannesburg is known for its diverse food scene. How would you incorporate local flavors and ingredients into your dishes to create a unique dining experience for customers? Me: I enjoy visiting food and craft markets. I'm adventurous and will try any food just to taste it. If I like it I'll buy more and experience at home ChatGPT: Exploring food and craft markets and being adventurous with tasting different foods is a great way to gather inspiration and incorporate local flavors. Let's continue with the interview: 5. Communication is crucial in a restaurant kitchen. How do you ensure effective communication and collaboration with other kitchen staff and front-of-house teams? Me: I get on well with friends and family and enjoy meeting people. I like to talk to people about food and im prepared to learn from senior chefs ChatGPT: Your interpersonal skills and willingness to learn from experienced chefs are valuable assets in a restaurant setting. Now, let's move on: 6. Describe your approach to menu planning and development. How do you stay updated with culinary trends and ensure your menu offerings remain appealing to customers? Me: I try to visit food websites, read reviews of restaurants and try out new recipes. I ask friends and family to taste and tell me what is wrong or right. I'll try adjust my recipe then. ChatGPT: It's evident that you are proactive in staying updated with culinary trends and seeking feedback to refine your dishes. Let's proceed with the interview: 7. Food safety and hygiene are top priorities in the kitchen. Can you explain your knowledge of food safety standards and your commitment to maintaining a clean and safe work environment? Me: At hotel school I did a course on food safety. I spend a lot of time cleaning up and I've learned what equipment and material I must use to get a spotless kitchen ChatGPT: That's reassuring to hear that you have formal training in food safety and a strong commitment to maintaining a clean and safe kitchen environment. Now, let's move on to the next question: 8. In a restaurant setting, customer satisfaction is vital. How do you handle feedback and criticism from customers, and what steps do you take to address their concerns? Me: As a junior I try to learn, but I do get upset with people complain unnecessarily ChatGPT: Handling customer feedback can be challenging, especially when some complaints may seem unnecessary. Let's proceed to the final question: 9. Are there any special techniques or signature dishes you'd like to highlight that make you a unique candidate for this Chef position in Johannesburg? Me: Not really. I'm still learning ChatGPT: Thank you for your honest responses. It's clear that you have a strong passion for cooking and a willingness to learn. If you have any more questions or if there's anything else you'd like to share, please feel free to do so. Otherwise, we can conclude the interview. Me: Finished. Can you now give an summary of your impressions of the interview ChatGPT: Certainly! Based on the interview, here are my impressions: You have a background in culinary arts, including three years at hotel school and part-time experience at a fast-food restaurant (MacDonald's) while studying. Your passion for cooking was evident, and you enjoy experimenting with different flavors and cuisines. Your inspiration for pursuing a culinary career comes from your enjoyment of cooking for friends and family, even during your school years. You mentioned that you handle high-pressure situations well, considering cooking itself to be inherently time-sensitive. Your openness to trying new foods, visiting food markets, and engaging with others about food showcases your adventurous spirit and willingness to learn. Communication and collaboration are strengths, as you get along well with others and are prepared to learn from senior chefs. In terms of menu planning and development, you stay updated with culinary trends by visiting food websites, reading reviews, and seeking feedback from friends and family to refine your recipes. You have a good understanding of food safety standards and emphasize cleanliness in the kitchen. While you expressed some frustration with unnecessary complaints, you recognize the importance of customer satisfaction in a restaurant setting. Overall, you described yourself as a junior chef who is still learning and growing in the culinary field. Thank you for sharing these insights during the interview. Your passion for cooking and willingness to improve are positive qualities for a chef candidate. If you have any further questions or need assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out. Good luck with your culinary journey! Me: Thanks ChatGPT: You're welcome! If you ever have more questions or need assistance in the future, whether it's related to your culinary career or anything else, feel free to reach out. Best of luck with your pursuits, and have a great day! So, Shania did that impress you much? |
Use of a ChatbotPublished: 06-Sep-2023 |
| Let me tell you what happened yesterday and how an AI Chatbot will help in the future. Our conference centre has various training rooms with TV sets as monitors. A client needed to connect her laptop to the screen. By default the monitor was set to receive input from the VGA port. The client wanted to use HDMI. I could not find the remote control to change the source of input so had to use the buttons on the side of the screen. If anyone has tried this they know the frustration of pressing buttons to change the configuration. It took 20 minutes to work out what each button does - what a waste of time. Once I knew I wrote up the process (which only took 5 minutes) and gave it to our 435 Rugby Ave Conference Centre AI Chatbot. From now on whenever someone needs to change the configuration of a screen all they need to do is ask (the Chatbot). You can try it out yourself. Go to https://435rugbyave.co.za and ask the Chatbot "How do I change the source for the TV in the board room?" All that is happening is we are continuing to build up the company knowledgebase to help us become more efficient. It’s not a big deal, but it is something that will help staff in the future and enhance client experience. What are my alternatives to using a personalized Chanbot? 1) I could download the user manual for the TV and file it somewhere on my server. 2) I could have the user manual emailed to me. 3) I could file it in the “procedures” folder, together with 1000s of other documents The problem with all these methods is it is difficult to find the right document or answer in say 6 months time. What do you search for? TV screens configuration? Mkhombi Boardroom (the name of the room)? What is the file name? Where is it in the procedures manual? An AI Chatbot takes over this task. Yes, of course you will find the answer, but why waste 20 minutes if you can say “How do I configure the TV screen?” or any other English type query and let the Chatbot work out what you want. It will then deliver your own document, information, knowledgebase to anyone who asks. The effort and cost is negligible and well worthwhile. It took 5 minutes to write up the procedure and about 2 minutes to train the Chatbot. What this also shows if you start with a small knowledgebase and as time progresses and staff need answers, it is a simple and low cost task to extend it. |
AI is way more than ChatGPTPublished: 21-Aug-2023 |
| AI goes a lot further than simply asking ChatGPT a whole lot of questions. Make no mistake, asking questions and getting answers using natural language is excellent. It is incredible to think that you can ask a short question and get it to write a whole blog or post. One question and you can get a decent marketing strategy. One question and you can get a health and safety policy. AI of course goes a lot further. Video, audio, design are all things it can do very well. In a future blog post we'll talk more about voice to text which is also incredible. However AI and ChatGPT can be turned into an Expert System. It's a subject matter expert taken 1000 steps further. Expert systems have been around for years. They would ask a question and depending on the option chosen, ask another one. It was the old "Press 1 for sales", "Press 2 for statements". Instead of a user asking a subject matter expert some questions and getting good answers, the subject matter expert can ask the user a whole lot of questions. Depending on the answer given the AI system will ask different questions until there is a proper conclusion. The difference to old ways is both the user and the AI system will use natural language. For example instead of choosing option 9, the user will type "Help me ... get my phone working" Let me give other examples: The AI can interview a potential candidate for a job. Both will use natural language to reply and ask questions. If the job is for a CEO, the AI subject matter expert bot will ask management and experience questions. If it is for a salesman, it will ask sales, personality and committment questions. Each answer will allow the AI to probe deeper. Because it uses natural language the candidate can write up long paragraph answers and the AI will understand. Anther example is a customer who wants to book a holiday. The AI bot can ask for budgets, number of people in the group, how long the holiday should be, areas where the customer may want to go - eg seaside, mountains, if it must be child friendly, etc. Some answers will lead to other questions until the AI bot has sufficient information to make recommendations. Thereafter the AI bot could send a formal proposal and even arrange the bookings as well. Let's bear in mind an AI system is only as good as the person setting it up and the person training it so it can and will make some mistakes. We have only touched the concept of Expert Systems. Whatever ideas or questions you have, please contact us. |
AI in a law firmPublished: 18-Aug-2023 |
| Every industry and every person has a different need for AI. AI is not one piece of software that fits all. Let me give an example: At our AI seminar yesterday, we had attorneys and candidate attorneys from a very specialiased law firm. After much discussion we came up with various excellent uses of AI. 1) The junior attorneys have a regular task to read heads of arguments and present summaries to the senior partner. There is often a long thread of arguments and replies before the case goes to court. Each doument must be analysed and summarised, but all documents must be consolidated to ensure they are consistent. This is a long task and somewhat complex as the size of documents grows. We concluded that if all documents are loaded into a Chatbot, via our subject matter expert AI system, then the attorneys and senior partners can easily and quickly ask questions of the subject matter expert to get summaries, inconsistencies and also more details. 2) A second, excellent use for AI is in transcribing conversations and meetings. Voice to text has been available for a long time, but it was never 100% accurate and fairly costly. OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT have also created a voice to text engine. Their engine has been trained on millions of hours of voice. Also, because it uses AI and natural language it is more accurate than ever because it can guess a word if it cannot hear it properly based on the context of the conversation. Exciting? Absolutely. Will it make them more efficient and efficient? Definitely. Is it costly? No! |
Is a contact form on your website any good?Published: 14-Aug-2023 |
| Let me give a short story: On Friday I needed to contact 2 different companies, so I visited their websites and filled in their "contact me" forms. On Sunday I saw an advert on another website that interested me so I sent in an enquiry. The first two companies have still not responded. The third one responded quickly asking how they could help. The form I filled in was a direct result of their advert, so I could have expected them to know that I was requesting more information. Two emails later I had the information I required. The 2 other businesses: Why have a form if you have no one to respond, or simply don't bother? These are not isolated incidents. Many companies get quite excited when they first implement a form. Over time they start getting busy and simply forget about this new method of communication. The reality is even 1 or 2 enquiries per day adds up to more than a couple of hundred per year. Once the web designer hands this over to the commercial people, it often collapses. Is there a better way? Yes, of course. The data from the form needs to be added to the customer support system or the ticket system and processed properly. Even then, most enquiries via a contact form are simple queries. They are not detailed support issues. More like "What is the price". "Where can I purchase", "Do you have the product in stock". Once the form goes "into the system", it could take from an hour to 48 hours for a support person to respond or for a call centre agent to call. Then when they do they often ask what the query entails without reading the ticket properly. Is there an even better way? Yes, absolutely. Our support AI Chatbot. It can answer these simple questions with ease. Our service of course goes further. We monitor all questions and responses and if there is a question our Chatbot could not answer properly we ask our client to write up a response which we use to further train the Chatbot. For example, just today a potential customer visited our client's website and used the Chatbot to ask the following question: "How does the GPS tracker work?". Two weeks ago the Chatbot would have given a generic answer. Today it gave a detailed, but fully explanatory answer. The potential customer then asked: "Which devices does the app support?" Again, two weeks ago the Chatbot would have given a generic answer. Today it gave a really good answer including where to download the apps for the devices supported. The user then said: "Nice, thanks!" to which the Chatbot responded "You're welcome! I'm glad I could help. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask. We're here to ensure your satisfaction with our products and services." It's exciting that the potential customer had his answers within seconds. I need to mention that he visited the website and received these great answers at 4:21 am this morning! |
How does a Company Grow?Published: 10-Aug-2023 |
| Knowledge in a business is probably its biggest asset. Even if you have a small business, eg a coffee shop, knowledge of how to run it is more important than the actual coffee machine! Knowledge of where to buy supplies, how to make your customers' favourite drinks, how to employ people, knowledge of costs, finance, how to market. They say most of this knowledge is obvious, just "general knowledge", but it's not! In a bigger business, the knowledge accumulates. It includes knowledge of products and services, customers, staff, suppliers, and "general knowledge". Where is that knowledge stored? All over the company: in finance, marketing, HR, on ERP systems, in emails, on websites and intranets. Big IT companies like SAP try to centralise it all, but some still sits on your Excel spreadsheets, on your PC, inside your head. The company does not have full knowledge where all this knowledge sits. Each new employee adds more knowledge or duplicates existing knowledge, sometimes wrongly! How does a company grow? By using its knowledge which includes actions based on that knowledge. It needs to grow by accumulating more knowledge and removing the information that no longer works. The real question I'm asking is how does that knowledge get managed and improved? Centralising it all like via a gigantic ERP is good, but not perfect. Bits of knowledge still "float" around. How does this relate to AI? I suggest that AI has a better way to track and understand company knowledge, wherever it may be. For example our AI Chat system will go a long way to help identify knowledge and use it. If every time there is an internal question, management were to go to their own (secure) chatbot to get the information, it would be a great start. If the information is not available to the chatbot, then someone would be tasked with getting that information and updating the chatbot. The idea is to let the chatbot sort through data, turn it into information and then knowledge. At the same time AI should be able to identify conflicting information to assist in keeping the information current. Software technology is improving at an enormous rate, so we feel the starting point is to create the chatbot and start giving it company knowledge and information. |
The Problem with AIPublished: 08-Aug-2023 |
| AI sometimes gets a bad rap. Many people are wary if not outright scared. To a large extent it's the fault of our industry! We use human like terms to describe an inanimate item. We call it Artificial Intelligence. We talk of "machine learning", "deep learning ", "training".
We speak to the Chatbots in a human way and they appear to give a humanoid answer. To a person without experience in this field it could easily be seen as "intelligent", even human. As soon as you talk of humanity we get into a whole new realm of philosophy, life, even religion. If a person thinks AI is "alive", you've lost them if you try to sell them on AI. Personally I like talking of "expert systems", but the buzzwords are artificial intelligence and machine learning so it's impossible to try to change. What I can do is explain that the most important aspect of AI is it is "artificial", it's just a well-designed software application, nothing more, not remotely "human", even when it carries on an "intelligent" conversation with you! It's no different to 160 years ago when people thought that a little man lived inside a radio! Imagine if 200 years ago you had shown those people a working cell phone. They would have said it's magic! In 2023 we have had some exciting developments. We have advanced software engineering as well as computer technology to process data quickly and store gigantic amounts of data. This has allowed us to design better software that does more things than say Excel which "only" adds and multiplies numbers. Many people hearing AI immediately compare it to their jobs. In talking to a lawyer recently his first comment was AI can't do his job. Of course he is right, just like a car can't do his job, but he certainly needs that car to get to court. AI would make him more efficient and help him in his job. It would help his staff do their job, just like Google search won't take away a person's job, but rather make them more efficient. That's the other issue with AI. People are rightfully scared it will remove their job, because "it is so clever". If their job is to add numbers and they refuse to use a computer then Excel would have taken their job long ago. You simply have to adapt. If you do, you'll be fine. |
The chief knowledge officerPublished: 25-Jul-2023 |
| Companies already have CIOs, chief information officers. They handle all IT issues and more. I think in the future we will start seeing CKOs, chief knowledge officers. They will be responsible for collecting and managing all company knowledge. I'm working on a project for a client. The aim is to handle customer support by putting all company knowledge onto ChatGPT. I started with the website. It's a great company, but amazing how inconsistent the Information is on the site. Most websites we visit have broken links. Some pages are not up to date. Also, as we gather more and more data, we see the conflict between company knowledge and their website. The chief knowledge officer will need to gather internal support documents and we will reconcile all data. We estimate that a website will only contain about 20% of knowledge to handle all customer queries. This is a very good start. The rest of the knowledge for customer support comes from internal documents like user manuals. The interesting thing is we have a good idea of the popular support queries, but there are always new queries from customers. Our approach is to look at every support query by customers via the internal ChatGPT and provide responses to ChatGPT that it will use in the future. |
Call Centre SolutionPublished: 12-Jul-2023 |
| ET Artifical Intelligence is thrilled to announce its call centre solution. Call centres are valuable assets in a business. It is often the first line of communication between the customer and the company, often the only way to get service and support. Sadly it is often the last activity before the customer walks away. Why? Call centres are often unwieldly, staff not properly trained, it is always busy "Your call is important to us, please stay on the line (while we play Richard Clayderman for the 88th time)" Is there a better way? Can you go to a web site and get the answers there? Not really. It is too complicated for many customers. Yes, there is a better way. At ET-AI we connect your web site to a ChatGPT bot. We train it on your company data. We start with web site information and then expand the data to include other sources of information. Your customers will feel a lot more comfortable writing an English type question into the ChatGPT bot on your site, than searching a complex set of FAQs. For example we did a hypothetical exercise using an airline that allows pets on board their planes. We asked "Can I take my Jack Russel on board". The ChatGPT bot said "Yes", but gave us the relevant terms and conditions. We then asked "Can I take my St Bernard on board?" The ChatGPT bot said "No, St Bernards are large dogs, more than 10kg in weight" and gave the detailed terms and conditions. Note that at no stage in the training of the bot did we include breed of dog. We didn't use Jack Russel or St Bernard in any example, but the ChatGPT bot knew enough to give an informed answer. Is your website enough to train on? No, customers are always going to be demanding more and asking more complex questions. The web site is likely to answer 20-25% of customers queries. This is not a problem for us. Our service is to monitor every single question and answer, and keep refining and adding answers until we have probably 90% of all answers. This is an on-going process. In addition as ChatGPT improves the answers will improve with better training. How does it benefit you? - A proper help facilitiy on your website that speaks the language of your customers and is available 24/7. - Reduce actual call centre load. - Reduce costs - Use the same ChatGPT bot to train call centre staff themselves and all staff on company products, policies and procedures. ChatGPT is new. Over time, it is going to be used more and more. Customers will be happier to use a working and functional system than continuing to listen to Richard Clayderman. Even if you don't have a web site, we can still install a ChatGPT bot and train it. Even if you have no real call centre and your reception acts as a call center and ChatGPT bot will work. Costs are far lower than you might expect. |
Do you need a mentor?Published: 06-Jul-2023 |
| I'm not offering myself, but AI. AI and ChatGPT continue to amaze me. One of my other activities is I produce dog food. We cook the food (dogs love it by the way) and have to package it into 500gm, kg or 2kg plastic packets. This is quite a labour intensive activity. We had a big pot of 50kg of hot, freshly cooked dog food and have to use a spoon to pack it into packets, weigh each packet and then heat seal it. There has to be a better way, without spending millins automating the whole plant! In a small/cottage business like this I don't have other people I can bounce ideas off. So I use AI. I asked ChatGPT the following: "I make dog food. It is the consistency of cold honey, ie does not flow very well. My problem is to find a faster way to pack it into 500gm,1kg and 2kg plastic packets. Using a spoon is too slow and I can't go to an automated production line. What ideas can you give me?" All I wanted were some ideas, maybe confirmation that there is a better way. This is what I got, in about 20 seconds: If you're looking for a faster way to pack your dog food into plastic packets without relying on an automated production line, here are a few ideas you can consider: 1. Funnel System: Create a funnel system using wide-mouthed funnels that can guide the dog food directly into the plastic packets. This can help streamline the process and speed up the packing. You can have multiple funnels set up simultaneously to pack multiple packets at once. 2. Squeeze Bottles or Dispensers: Instead of using a spoon, consider using squeeze bottles or dispensers with a wide opening. Fill these containers with your dog food and squeeze the contents directly into the plastic packets. This method allows for faster and more precise filling. 3. Piping Bags: Piping bags, commonly used in baking, can be repurposed for your dog food packing needs. Fill the piping bags with your dog food and use them to squeeze the food into the plastic packets. This method offers good control and speed, especially if you have multiple bags in operation. 4. Modified Condiment Bottles: Look for condiment bottles with a wide opening, similar to those used for ketchup or mustard. Clean and repurpose these bottles to fill them with your dog food. With a wider opening, you can dispense the food more quickly and efficiently. 5. Gravity Feeder: Design a simple gravity feeder system that utilizes the force of gravity to fill the plastic packets. You can elevate a container of your dog food and attach a valve or lever mechanism to control the flow. Place the plastic packets underneath, and as you open the valve, the food will flow into the packets. 6. Vibrating Platform: Create a vibrating platform that helps settle the dog food in the packets more quickly. By placing the packets on a vibrating surface, the food will settle and distribute evenly, allowing for faster packing. 7. Teamwork: If possible, enlist the help of additional personnel to work alongside you. One person can handle filling the plastic packets while another person focuses on sealing or packaging them. This division of labor can significantly increase the overall packing speed. Remember to experiment with these ideas and find the most efficient solution that suits your specific needs. Additionally, always prioritize safety and hygiene during the packing process to ensure the quality of your dog food remains intact. |
Who is responsible for implementing AI in an organizationPublished: 03-Jul-2023 |
| AI is NOT an IT function. Yes, AI gets implemented by IT, but they don't and shouldn't lead the process. Think of your accounting system. IT keeps it running but the Finance Director made the decision to use it, and the finance department is the main user. IT keeps your email running, but does not write your emails. Similarly with AI. The users, from the CEO to admin staff are the users and the initiators of the requirements for using AI. If the CEO and directors do not understand AI, it will get implemented incorrectly, if at all. That is why our approach is to sensitize and explain AI to users before they embark on the whole implementation phase. By definition AI does something new in the organization. IT cannot implement something that the company hasn't thought of and does not yet know they need. That would be a recipe for failure. At the same time AI is growing in usage every single day. A company can easily get left behind if they don't start their journey immediately. |
Chatbots don’t work.Published: 18-May-2024 |
The mybot.Business AI Chatbot definitely does work. |