Is AI here to steal our jobs? With this new (2023) study, Professor Erik Brynjolfsson from Stanford Business School says no — AI can help us do some jobs better. The research “studied nearly 5,200 customer support agents at a Fortune 500 software firm who gained access to a generative AI-based assistant in a phased rollout between November 2020 and February 2021. During support chats, the generative AI tool shared real-time recommendations with operators, suggesting how to respond to customers and supplying links to internal documents about technical issues.”
Brynjolfsson examined what happens when companies unleash AI in real workplaces. He found that providing workers with a generative AI tool boosted productivity, customer happiness, and employee retention. With the tool’s help, agents resolved 14% more support issues per hour compared to those without the tool. Notably, the effect was largest for the least skilled and least experienced workers, who saw productivity gains of up to 35%. “These are huge numbers,” says Brynjolfsson.
Digesting millions of support transcripts, the bot was able to learn what the most successful agents were doing right and then share these lessons with the wider workforce. With AI help, agents who’d been on the job for two months performed as well as unsupported agents with six months of experience.
“The lesson is [to] augment workers rather than replace them,” Brynjolfsson says. “A smart company is going to make sure they compensate and retain the high-skilled workers, so the system can continue to learn from them.”
“One of the critical things to think about regarding AI and customer centers,” says Prof. Yesha Sivan. “Yes, AI can improve productivity and give reps faster and more precise answers. But the ultimate product is the product that just works and does not need any service.”
