Off topic: Are AI assistants deaf or hard of hearing? Téma indítója: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
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Until recently, the appointment booking system at the private hospital where my doctors work was in the hands of a human assistant, and all I had to do was say my full name or date of birth and all my details would be at his/her disposal, and the appointment would take around 3/4 minutes at most. The only problem was that I had to call several times because the telephone was always busy… In the meantime, I started using the app and the appointment was even quicker, although I had to wait for a... See more Until recently, the appointment booking system at the private hospital where my doctors work was in the hands of a human assistant, and all I had to do was say my full name or date of birth and all my details would be at his/her disposal, and the appointment would take around 3/4 minutes at most. The only problem was that I had to call several times because the telephone was always busy… In the meantime, I started using the app and the appointment was even quicker, although I had to wait for a confirmation. Then the app started to indicate the dates when the doctor was free. So far, so good!
But last week, because I needed to book a cardiology appointment without a preferred doctor (which the app doesn't accept), I had to call the hospital and after the usual circuit of ‘press 1 for’, ‘press 2 for’, etc., I was greeted by an AI assistant, who began by asking: ‘Please tell me your full name’. After I'd given my full name, ‘Can you confirm that your name is xyz?’ Yes, I confirm. ‘Could you please tell me your date of birth?’ I indicate it. ‘Can you confirm that your date of birth is xyz?’ Yes, I confirm. And we went on like this for more than 5 minutes until the AI assistant said that it didn't understand what I wanted and that it was going to put me in touch with a human assistant. Finally, I got my appointment for the next day in just a few seconds... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Welcome to the future! | Feb 15 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Until recently, the appointment booking system at the private hospital where my doctors work was in the hands of a human assistant, and all I had to do was say my full name or date of birth and all my details would be at his/her disposal, and the appointment would take around 3/4 minutes at most. The only problem was that I had to call several times because the telephone was always busy… In the meantime, I started using the app and the appointment was even quicker, although I had to wait for a confirmation. Then the app started to indicate the dates when the doctor was free. So far, so good!
But last week, because I needed to book a cardiology appointment without a preferred doctor (which the app doesn't accept), I had to call the hospital and after the usual circuit of ‘press 1 for’, ‘press 2 for’, etc., I was greeted by an AI assistant, who began by asking: ‘Please tell me your full name’. After I'd given my full name, ‘Can you confirm that your name is xyz?’ Yes, I confirm. ‘Could you please tell me your date of birth?’ I indicate it. ‘Can you confirm that your date of birth is xyz?’ Yes, I confirm. And we went on like this for more than 5 minutes until the AI assistant said that it didn't understand what I wanted and that it was going to put me in touch with a human assistant. Finally, I got my appointment for the next day in just a few seconds...
Yes, that's the usual thing.
That's exactly how it happens with any contact-center communication, whether it's for a medical appointment, for a technical appointment with the internet provider, or for a banking appointment for a cashout.
Autonomous AI seems to be a proven failure, IMHO. Most of the time, chatbots are unable to give helpful replies because not having it in their script/code and virtual AI assistants make customers/patiences wasting more time and getting more frustrating than any human operator.
But, in these days, no company cares about that, since reducing costs is their holy grail.
| | | | | Artificial Intelligence | Feb 15 |
AI Assistants are not deaf or hard of hearing, they are not human. AI stands for ‘Artificial Intelligence’. I hope this is helpful.
| | | | | The required title | Feb 15 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Yes, that's the usual thing.
That's exactly how it happens with any contact-center communication, whether it's for a medical appointment, for a technical appointment with the internet provider, or for a banking appointment for a cashout.
Autonomous AI seems to be a proven failure, IMHO. Most of the time, chatbots are unable to give helpful replies because not having it in their script/code and virtual AI assistants make customers/patiences wasting more time and getting more frustrating than any human operator.
But, in these days, no company cares about that, since reducing costs is their holy grail.
It's quite similar with using any AI products – at first sight, most of them are truly amazing. But then you notice the obvious errors, automatic repetitions, etc. Witnessing a relative trying to sort out her issue with plane tickets to Australia while she was directed to a series of bots, each one getting maybe 70% of the information and oblivious of what had been already said, was both funny and incredibly furiating.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
... I needed to book a cardiology appointment ... I was greeted by an AI assistant, who (sic!!!!) began by asking: ‘Please tell me your full name’. After I'd given my full name, ‘Can you confirm that your name is xyz?’ Yes, I confirm. ‘Could you please tell me your date of birth?’ I indicate it. ‘Can you confirm that your date of birth is xyz?’ Yes, I confirm. And we went on like this for more than 5 minutes until the AI assistant said that it didn't understand what I wanted and that it was going to put me in touch with a human assistant. Finally, I got my appointment for the next day in just a few seconds...
... is that you survived to tell us the tale
I do wonder, however, what your cardiologist would have done if the AI had not abandoned its attempts to enervate you to the maximum degree, and you'd arrived at the hospital ER in an ambulance - or maybe even gone straight to the morgue - as a consequence of the utterly unnecessary emotional stress provoked by the bot...
Stay safe Maria Teresa - and let your experience be a warning to all of us to steer clear of the bots for anything remotely critical!
JL
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosznia-Hercegovina
Local time: 12:32
Tag (2009 óta)
angol - horvát
+ ...
A while ago I had a problem with an online order, delivery was delayed. I went to the support chat, and of course an AI bot was there. I had to undergo a 15-min AI torture before being connected to a real person (AI asking me a series of stupid questions such as “what are your initials”). It was super frustrating. Extremely time consuming without bringing any value or resolution. Hey, why make a customer’s life easy, when you can make it hard? AI is there to help you.
| | | | Philip Lees
Görögország
Local time: 13:32
görög - angol
My approach is just to repeat, "I want to speak to a human being," in response to whatever the bot asks. Eventually I get one.
It isn't so much the technology that's to blame, as the people who apply it in contexts it can't handle.
A fork is a fine eating tool, but if you're given it along with a bowl of soup, you won't get very far.
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugália
Local time: 11:32
Tag (2015 óta)
angol - portugál
+ ...
Today it was my turn. I called my bank and got an answer from a bot with a female voice who spoke very quickly...
To stop her speed, I told her what I wanted - to talk to a human assistant.
I was on hold for more than 10 minutes before I ended up hanging up...
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PAS
Local time: 12:32
lengyel - angol
+ ...
| Not hard of hearing, just dimwitted 's all | Feb 19 |
Additional "trick" - don't bother telling any AI you're a client (of a bank or whatever) because you'll only be forced to go through the login process. Say "no" and try to talk to a human as soon as possible.
| | | | Zea_Mays
Olaszország
Local time: 12:32
Tag (2009 óta)
angol - német
+ ...
| Report the issues with the bots | Feb 19 |
Complain with the companies about the bad User Experience with the stupid bots - bad UX is an economic danger for any business.
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosznia-Hercegovina
Local time: 12:32
Tag (2009 óta)
angol - horvát
+ ...
Zea_Mays wrote:
Complain with the companies about the bad User Experience with the stupid bots - bad UX is an economic danger for any business.
They sent me an email survey about my purchase/satisfaction, and I reported everything.
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Lingua 5B wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
Complain with the companies about the bad User Experience with the stupid bots - bad UX is an economic danger for any business.
They sent me an email survey about my purchase/satisfaction, and I reported everything.
Again, that's the usual thing.
Satisfaction survey is trigged automatically right after the phone/chat ends by the same AI software.
It's equally useless, since chatbots/AI assistants aren't improved at all. Like I said before:
no company cares about that, since reducing costs is their holy grail.
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