The idea in 60 Seconds :

  • Conversational Interfaces are likely to become one of our primary methods of interacting with the internet, largely because they’re really easy to use.
  • Much of the focus on LLMs (Large Language Models) and Generative AI at the moment is on the benefits to business which is not surprising since some estimates say businesses will garner a 40% productivity windfall from these technologies.
  • However, next year, Conversational AI will come to SmartPhones with Apple, Samsung, Open AI and others all promising to release devices with AI Assistants, a ‘Siri that actually works.’
  • In time, AI Assistants will evolve in to more independent and capable AI Agents.
  • In the short term, this change will require a revamp of most business websites both from a CX perspective and to enable every service the business has, online, for AI Assistants, as eServices.
  • Security and privacy concerns associated with all of this may require regulation.
  • Fortunately or unfortunately, the sort of technology we’re talking about here happens to be the technology which will roll out very, very quickly adding more chaos to an already chaotic situation.

Conversation Is Going To Become One Of Our Primary Interfaces To The Internet

People are lazy and tend to use the solution which will help them achieve their goal as quickly as possible. Progress in technology over the last 50 years has been away from computer interfaces and towards more human methods of interaction. As a result, it seems chat will be the most useful computer interface. The ramifications of that are substantial in business and even bigger in consumer, affecting individuals, phones, companies, everything really.

This article examines why conversational interfaces are so important.

Conversational interfaces are going to be a big deal for consumers.

SmartPhones Will Soon Have AI Assistants Which Do Our Bidding

Much of the talk of Generative AI has been to do with Business Applications. Since Consumers make up about 60-70% of the economy, the effects their use of Generative AI has, is likely to be more substantial than what we’ve witnessed so far. Consumers are business’ customers. Changing Consumer demands change what businesses must do.

There are about 5 billion Smartphones in use around the world today. Google, Samsung, Apple, Open AI and some challengers have announced that they are designing mobile devices with AI Assistants built in.

People don’t use personal assistants like Siri much now, for a variety of reasons, mostly to do with the lack of situational / contextual awareness the tool has and its lower than human levels of comprehension. In the very near future, Generative AI will greatly improve contextual awareness and language / intent comprehension. When that happens, smartphones and conversational UIs will become our primary interfaces to the internet.

This article explores what will change when our SmartPhones have reliable AI Assistants.

Those AI Assistants Will Evolve In To AI Agents

Open AI recently released ‘Assistants’ at their November ’23 developer conference. Assistants are the first steps towards adding conversational interfaces to a company website. Over time, the functionality of these Assistants will improve. When Assistants evolve in to Aagents, there will be less “Human In the Loop.” It seems likely that these things together disrupt search results and business models – e.g. SEO performers / comparison sites.

This article explores the difference between AI Assistants and Agents and the impacts they will have.

The Implications for Existing Brands Are Substantial

Companies are starting to figure out use cases for LLMs to be applied to business. However, companies’ customers are consumers – and the way they consumers behave when LLMs are rolled out as conversational interfaces is going to be even more disruptive.

Businesses need to focus on the way they integrate conversational interfaces with their websites and invest in adapting the CX of the voice / screen experience their site provides. They also need to think about enabling eServices on their site so Assistants can engage with them and then think through the ramifications for their strategies. There are no easy answers and some possibly negative outcomes.

This article explores the implications for AI Assistants on Smartphones for existing brands.

Businesses Will Have To Think About How To Adapt Their Customer Experiences

When we all use AI Assistants there will be implications for the businesses we deal with; those AI Assistants need to be able to do the same things human visitors do on your site.

Many companies have spent the last 20 years making their services available online. One way to deconstruct a website is to look at it from the point of view of 3 specific intents. 1) Evaluate – Where visitors come to your site to find out about your product. (Presales) 2) Buy – Where they have established enough information that they can now buy. (Sales) 3) Self Service – Where they have bought and are now maintaining their product (Postsales.) And some industries more than others are going to find it harder to adapt to the change than others.

This article explores the specifics of how to think through new CXs and some of the limitations businesses will have to confront.

And When These Changes Happen, They Will Happen Very, Very Quickly

Technology rolls out more and more quickly. A variety of factors influence how quickly a technology is adopted. Ease of use, cost / benefit, awareness and infrastructure requirements affect the speed. Voice Assistants on phones are the easiest possible technology to use, they’re free and offer a significant benefit. As a result they will roll out extremely quickly.  This could leave businesses struggling to adapt and cause a problem for regulators.

This article explores the factors leading to the very fast rollout of the changes associated with AI Assistants.