Is Artificial Intelligence Customer Service Satisfactory? Insights Based on Microblog Data and User Interviews.

Journal: Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking
PMID: 34935458

Abstract

A growing number of sectors are delivering customer services powered by artificial intelligence (AI) instead of humans, with evidence indicating labor cost reduction and efficiency improvement. However, it would be worthwhile to examine the extent to which consumers are satisfied with AI service agents. In two studies based on an analysis of 17,673 Weibo data (Study 1) and 33 interviews (Study 2), we constructed a pair of theoretical models of consumer attitudes toward AI services: a sentiment model and an evaluation model. The results from Weibo data analysis showed that consumers display a stronger negative attitude toward AI customer service than toward their human counterparts. Complaints regarding AI customer service is mainly about its poor problem-solving ability, while untimely response and lack of human touch also dissatisfy customers. Whether consumers offer positive feedback mainly depends on voice traits and service attitudes. The results from the interviews confirm an overall negative attitude of consumers toward AI customer service. Consumers also recognize AI customer service agents as human like and social interaction stress relieving. Taken together, these findings reveal Chinese customers' attitudes toward AI service solutions and provide concrete suggestions for the development and upgrade of AI customer services.

Authors

  • Tengfei Zhao
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
  • Jingjing Cui
    Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, 330013 People's Republic of China.
  • Jiayu Hu
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
  • Yan Dai
    Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Development and Evaluation, College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China.
  • Yang Zhou
    State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Guangzhou, China.

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