Survey: AI adds value for customers

The application of artificial intelligence is expected to make companies more efficient and add customer value, according to the latest study. 

Some 54 percent of Chinese consumers are willing to embrace digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence in customer service — against an average of 43 percent at global level, according to a study by consultancy Accenture and Ant Financial. 

As many as 47 percent of Chinese customers are willing to let companies use their personal information to provide tailor-made services — against the global level of 38 percent. 

Up to 80 percent of customers expect service staff to know about their previous dialogue and to understand their demands on the basis of protecting privacy while 55 percent are willing to pay extra for tailor-made services. 

Ant Financial has been improving its own service capabilities by analyzing consumer demand to allocate staff and resources at its call centers, and a number of industries, such as consumer finance, insurance, transport and online retailing, have adopted its capabilities and solutions. 

Consumers say their biggest frustrations with providers include failure to deliver on promises, inefficient and slow customer service, and lack of convenient interaction.

Rui Xiongwen, Ant Financial’s vice president, said it was also working on artificial intelligence technologies to optimize robotic dialogue software to better serve clients. 

More than 70 percent of Chinese consumers said they hoped to solve problems through self-service procedures instead of talking to human staff. 

Alipay said it has been using new technologies such as artificial intelligence to predict demand in advance to provide customers with better services and has also allowed third parties to use its AI power to help them lower call center costs. 

Teng Tao, managing director of Accenture China Financial Services, expects the market for smart customer services in China to be worth hundreds of billions of yuan in the future. Those with advanced digital capabilities would enjoy better business prospects, Teng said.