Posted on 06/14/2021 8:01:26 AM PDT by bgill
“Walking pace, huh. Well, Domino’s won’t be using them.”
Not many can walk at 15mph.
You know that because… ?
“You know that because… ?”
I read.
That death has nothing to do with robots going less than 5 mph, and weighing less than 200lbs.
Apples and zucchini.
“I read.”
Unless you read minds, what you read was the STATED purpose.
“Unless you read minds, what you read was the STATED purpose.”
Backup by facts.
Prediction: one of the “supervisors” is going to cause a fatal accident, which will be attributed to the dangers of automation.
That Refraction chose Austin as its second location is really not a surprise. Though the company was founded in Michigan, Luke Schneider, who was brought in as Refraction CEO last fall, is based in Austin, TX. When Refraction raised $4.2 million earlier this year, Schneider told me that part of that money would go towards building up operations in Austin.
There’s no ‘guidance signal’.
Except it does. Both are autonomous vehicles operating on the road. Yes, this one is considerably less likely to injure or kill people, but it’s a non-zero chance. The law still applies.
“As we know from the automated customer service rabbit holes, where you “press 3 for…” - anything other than a human being is a HUGE waste of time.
They make you enter all sorts of account information and then if you are lucky enough to talk to a real person, they always ask for it again.
More often than not, they send you on a wild goose chase and then disconnect you.”
Um, that’s not a fault of the technology. I set up some of those systems - when you encounter those situations, it is because the company that bought the system *wants* it that way. That’s what they specify they want to happen. They often contract out phone support to a call center, so when your call gets transferred often the data you entered doesn’t seem to come with it due to either not wanting to pay for a system that can do so, due to technical incompatibilities on the call center’s end because *they* don’t want to get a compatible system or because they think it will be a good security check/verification measure.
“Um, that’s not a fault of the technology. I set up some of those systems - when you encounter those situations, it is because the company that bought the system *wants* it that way.”
I’m sure that is true. It is certainly not the fault of people like you who set up the systems. And I’m sure the technology exists to use state-of the-art voice recognition and AI to provide amazing customer service.
In practice though, customer service departments use automated systems to save money.
If they can’t afford to have competent human beings screening every call and directing it to other human beings as appropriate, they also can’t afford the state-of-the-art AI technology either.
And as with most cost savings strategies, the cost reductions come at customer’s expense.
Like most people, I encounter these call answering “rabbit holes” when calling to question a charge, a package that didn’t arrive, a product defect, or to order something. I call utilities, restaurants, schools, the government, manufacturers, distributors and who knows what.
I can assure you the ones I encounter not state-of-the-art technology.
They are dumb-as-shit systems designed to save the company the cost of hiring human beings - they waste a ton of your of time collecting redundant and irrelevant data before they offer any options. Then the options they do offer rarely include the option you need, or it is unclear whether or not they do.
Meanwhile, the voice recognition software fails half the time, and drops your call. There is not much more frustrating than having voice recognition software say “Sorry, we didn’t get that. Goodbye.”
By far, the most useful feature in these awful systems (if you are lucky) is the escape button where you can hit zero at some point and finally talk to someone.
I hope the ones you install have that!
0 for operator is also configured as the client specifies. If they don’t want it, it’s not there.
FYI, those systems aren’t AI at all other than optional speech recognition. On the other hand I generally don’t have a problem using a phone voice recognition system, and neither do the majority of Americans. Speak clearly, at a measured pace, in a quiet area and they do fine. Do NOT get loud or shout at it - at least some of them can be configured that an apparently irate caller shouting at it will deliberately be disconnected. Which, when I worked at a call center, was something I dearly wanted to be able to do on calls with idiots.
Also, a good voice menuing system is actually cheaper than one receptionist - and able to handle much higher call volumes with greater accuracy.
“… don’t have a problem using a phone voice recognition system, and neither do the majority of Americans.”
LOL!
Next you’ll be telling me most people like telemarketers and robocalls!
Didn’t say they liked them. Just pointing out that in my retry much every study I’ve ever seen, something between 80-90% of those tested could use a standard voice menu system just fine.
Er, “in my retry” should be “pretty”.
Anyway, yeah, most people can navigate it just fine.
I don’t deny that there are a lot of compliant people out there.
If they are fine with fake pandemics and stolen elections, I guess automated “customer service” rabbit holes are a piece of cake.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.