AI in the Chat: Generative AI’s Growing Role in Customer Service

The widespread use of generative artificial intelligence in the corporate arena continues to expand.

Executives exploring its uses in multiple verticals have seized on its capacity to streamline routine tasks. However, according to PYMNTS Intelligence research, chief marketing officers (CMOs) are increasingly using the technology for one  strategic aim: improving the customer experience.

PYMNTS Intelligence found that all surveyed CMOs are already using generative AI, with customer service becoming one of its most promising applications. Chatbots, customer service requests, personalized interactions and other customer-centric functionalities are all proving to be effective use cases for the technology. Despite an unclear return on investment (ROI), 55% of CMOs plan to increase their generative AI budgets. This reflects their growing confidence in its capabilities on this front.

• CMOs’ Increasing Use of Generative AI
• Generative AI’s Growing Effectiveness for Customer Service
• CMOs’ Outlook on Generative AI Investments
• Read More

CMOs’ Increasing Use of Generative AI

CMOs are using generative AI for content creation, the technology’s claim to fame. Sixty percent of CMOs told PYMNTS Intelligence in July that creating content is where generative AI serves their organizations, up from 52% in April. The type of content for which they use the technology continues to evolve, however. While 43% of CMOs said in July they used it to create data visualizations and reports, this was a drop from the 70% who said so in April. CMOs’ use of the technology to generate employee feedback also declined during that time frame.

However, one of the areas where generative AI’s use is increasing the most is in creating content for customer service applications. Sixty percent of CMOs in July said they were using it to assist employees and customers in accessing information, up from 42% in April. Similarly, 52% of CMOs in July were using it to create contextualized recommendation emails for customers, compared to 33% in April. Meanwhile, the share of CMOs who used it to generate real-time, automated responses to customer queries held steady, at 45%. This result suggests that generative AI is best at assisting human efforts in customer care, rather than replacing them altogether. To determine why CMOs were increasing or decreasing their use of the technology, we next asked them to rank the effectiveness of generative AI for specific tasks.

Generative AI’s Growing Effectiveness for Customer Service

When asked about the specific areas where generative AI is important or effective, CMOs confirmed the technology’s potential for improving customer service. Ninety-three percent of CMOs in July said generative AI is important for market research and insights, which can help anticipate customer needs, preferences and behaviors. This was up from 75% in April. Eighty-three percent specifically pinpointed the technology’s usefulness in improving the customer experience, up from 80% earlier.

Drilling down into specific tasks, 97% of CMOs in July said generative AI is very or extremely effective in assisting employees and customers with accessing information — the highest-ranking use case after simply generating code. This was up from 72% in April. Furthermore, 96% of CMOs in July said the technology was highly effective at generating real-time responses to customer queries, up from 89% in April. Finally, 94% in July said it was highly effective for creating and sending highly contextualized emails or recommendations for customers, up from just 75% in April. These were all ranked within the top five use cases for the technology.

CMOs’ Outlook on Generative AI Investments

CMOs surveyed in July were unanimous in agreeing that generative AI will improve the customer experience over the next three years. By every measure, this is an endorsement of the technology, up from the 93% who said so in April.

In confirmation of CMOs’ growing positive perception of the technology, 55% surveyed in July said they plan to increase their spend on its applications within the next year, up from 45% in April. This 22% projected increase is somewhat paradoxical, however. The share of companies reporting a positive ROI from the technology has steadily declined during that time frame, dipping from 23% in April to 8.3% in July. The report concludes that the increased willingness to invest in the technology despite a decline in ROI likely reflects a change in perception of generative AI. Specifically, CMOs no longer view generative AI as a short-term moneymaker, instead seeing it as a long-term strategy. CMOs’ 24% increase in use of the technology for market research during that interval likely heralds its strategic role in shaping the customer service of the future.

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PYMNTS Intelligence’s CAIO Report series contains a wealth of further insights into CMOs’ evolving use of generative AI. Keep reading about this dynamic technology here.