One of the most exciting things happening right now is the combination of people and technology. The meeting point in the middle is where people can learn from technology and what they can apply to it in terms of machine learning.
The BPO industry is heavily dependent on human interaction. Call handlers, technical support agents, HR specialists, software developers and customer service agents all have one thing in common: most of these roles are completed by humans.
But the future of the BPO industry, like many others, depends on the relationships between the people working in it and the technology beginning to shape it.
What technologies are being used in the BPO industry?
After artificial intelligence (AI) itself, there are many different tools being used right now in the BPO industry. Cloud systems and communication tools, vocal recognition and automation tools, and data analytics systems are just a few examples of tools transforming the way people work today.
Probably the most famous tool right now is ChatGPT — a language model built by OpenAI. ChatGPT can both understand and produce written language, so for the purposes of this blog post, we asked ChatGPT: Write a short paragraph for an article about the intersection of humans and technology in the BPO industry.
Here’s what it produced:
“In the ever-evolving landscape of the BPO industry, the intersection of humans and technology has become a game-changer. As cutting-edge technologies like AI, automation, and machine learning take center stage, the human touch remains an indispensable element in the mix. It’s the seamless integration of human expertise, problem-solving abilities, and emotional intelligence that complements the efficiency of technology, elevating customer experiences and driving innovation. The BPO industry exemplifies the powerful synergy that arises when humans and technology collaborate, proving that the future of work lies in striking the perfect balance between human ingenuity and technological advancements.”
Without digging into the content of the paragraph, it’s worth remembering that the tool has been taught what a paragraph is and what an article is. This level of machine learning alone is fascinating. As for how it works, language-generating models use a combination of producing language and ‘scraping’, which is trawling content that already exists online and repurposing it.
This is great for content, but what does it mean for the BPO industry?
AI-powered writing tools can be an asset for any number of different outsourced functions, and can even be used to help write programs, codes and contracts. HR departments could benefit from AI-generated scripts to help with difficult conversations, and call handling functions can get extra help from conversational tools.
Will technology replace humans in the BPO industry?
While it’s too early to say for sure, one thing that’s clear is the relationship between people and technology is still growing and will continue to develop. There are so many data analytics, machine learning and AI-powered tools that need to be developed by people before they can replace them.
And like all good relationships, the development of technology and people needs to work hand-in-hand for growth to truly work. Person-to-person interaction is so important in customer service, HR functions and insurance claims processing and it could be challenging to automate that human touch that comes from a real customer service agent.
What’s next for technology in BPO functions?
Tools like ChatGPT can be used in the BPO industry to enhance the customer experience and to lighten the load on already busy customer service agents. Chatbots — as we covered in a previous blog post — can be used to answer more basic queries before escalating to a human agent.
According to a report from Ultimate.ai, there are several trends to watch out for, including the growing preference for self-service as a step in customer service, and automation fuelling faster customer support.
Here’s to the future of technology and how it can help the BPO industry to continue to grow and thrive.
To know more information, get in touch.
Sources
https://www.msbcgroup.com/blog/how-modern-technology-impacts-BPO
