Apple put an AI voice on its support hotline and hasn’t told anyone about it, which is either completely fine or a bigger deal depending on how often you have called 1-800-APL-CARE expecting a human on the other end. While I understand the need to “screen” calls a bit, one of the best things that I have always encountered over the years when talking to Apple support was quickly talking to a person and not having to navigate massive phone trees nor wait on hold.
The other side of me understands and appreciates the troubleshooting side of calls. Walking people through common solutions using AI could be helpful, provided the AI doing the “help” is actually on-task, relevant, and helpful, and if a human is needed for additional help, that the AI routes directly to the proper person.
But on the other hand, this type of AI, while potentially efficient and “less costly,” is replacing a human. Perhaps those impacted humans can actually help train the model as a new type of job to lessen AI’s impact on business.