In this post ‘Truth in bots’, Seth Godin makes the point that since bots are increasingly common in answering messages and even voice phone, we should be informed that it is a bot answering rather a human before we start the interaction.
“You’re talking to a next-generation bot on the phone, and it’s only a minute or two into the interaction that you realize you’re being fooled by an AI, not a caring human. Wouldn’t it be more efficient (and reassuring) to know this in advance?“
It would be not only ethical, but, as Seth Godin rightly mentions, it will influence the level of emotional investment we will put in the conversation – and give us some clues as to the adequacy of the response.
Not that conversation with humans in service centers is necessarily more helpful or engaging, but at least it would be useful to know who we are speaking to.
As bots become more and more widespread this is becoming an essential aspect of service. Why is it not becoming a standard more quickly? It is not bad to have abot answer – it can sometimes be better. So why avoid giving this information?
