Generative AI in Customer Service: What TF is ChatGPT?

McKay Borbon | Content Marketing Manager

Everyone and their mother is talking about ChatGPT.

Maybe you’ve been an active user since its launch in November 2022, or you’re trying to figure out what the hype is all about. Either way, it’s likely you’ve seen OpenAI’s groundbreaking conversational AI model in the news, all over social media, or heard talk of it within the CX realm.

Conversational AI is a hot topic in customer support circles, so it’s no surprise that ChatGPT is making waves. With the ability to understand and respond to prompts in a dialogue format, the generative AI chatbot interacts in a way that is surprisingly human-like. And while it wasn’t originally built for customer service, ChatGPT has the potential to bring a lot of value when leveraged for customer communications. We’re talking quicker, more efficient, and individualized support at scale - and those are just some of the possible benefits of ChatGPT in customer service.

While there are advancements that need to be made before ChatGPT can evolve from its demo environment to a fully-fledged customer service solution, progress is on the horizon. OpenAI is developing the next version of ChatGPT, so we can anticipate headway in the upcoming year and beyond.

ChatGPT will change the future of CX as we know it. By getting familiar with and developing an understanding of the technology, CX leaders will be empowered to make informed decisions and unlock all that ChatGPT has to offer.

So, what TF do CX leaders need to know about ChatGPT? Thankful did the research and consulted experts to answer the most asked questions and bring you the must-know info. 👇

What TF is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT, which stands for “Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer”, is an advanced conversational AI model that has the ability to understand and respond to questions in a natural-sounding and human-like manner.

Its text classifying, text summarizing, and text-generative capabilities lend itself to a wide range of use cases that go beyond conversing. From developing workout plans, writing code, and creating recipes, to explaining complex concepts and solving math problems, people are leveraging ChatGPT for a variety of purposes - some useful and some just for fun.

ChatGPT capabilities

How TF could I use ChatGPT for customer service?

In the context of customer service, ChatGPT would be best used to generate automated responses to common ticket types. By handling the high volumes of repetitive queries that inundate support teams, customers would be able to quickly access the information they need while human agents can put their attention toward more complex tasks.

It may not be as entertaining as tasking ChatGPT to write jokes or generate memes, but it’s pretty darn useful.

How TF does ChatGPT do all that?

ChatGPT is built on top of a Large Language Model (LLM) - Large Language Models are a type of AI that is trained on huge data sets in order to read, understand, and generate text by accurately predicting what word comes next in a sentence. Think of it as a highly advanced and very long-form version of autocomplete.

Like all good AI, the more data it’s trained on the more it is able to do. And since ChatGPT’s Large Language Model is trained on such a vast data set from the internet, it has pretty extensive Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities. It can handle very complex conversations and has far greater accuracy than your typical chatbot for customer support.

Is there anything ChatGPT can’t do?

There’s no doubt that ChatGPT is cutting-edge with an impressive range of abilities. But, as previously mentioned, it’s still in its demo environment. As with any tech, especially at earlier stages, it has some limitations. Arguably the most notable limitation is that ChatGPT’s output is not always accurate. In some cases, responses may be entirely incorrect despite sounding plausible. This is, of course, not ideal in customer service situations. To learn about 5 other ChatGPT limitations when it comes to customer service applications (and their solutions!), give this blog post a read.

It’s worth highlighting that ChatGPT’s limitations are not a big secret. In fact, OpenAI is very open (no pun intended) and calls out some of the risks of ChatGPT. The team also encourages users to provide feedback on other issues that arise.

You could also ask ChatGPT itself. That’s right - ChatGPT is aware of and will tell you its own limitations. We love self-awareness.

When TF can I use ChatGPT in my customer service organization?

Until ChatGPT is able to function in a customer support ecosystem, there are available solutions for CX leaders who want to harness the power of conversational AI for live chat.

There are a variety of AI automation tools on the market that provide customers with quick responses and some AI chatbots that are able to interact conversationally. For CX leaders that are seeking out AI that offers the dialogue format and natural-sounding responses that make ChatGPT so appealing, a solution like an AI Agent could meet their needs.

In addition to providing quick, efficient, and human-like responses, an AI Agent actually integrates with your existing helpdesk and connects with your business systems to take action and fully resolve large ticket volumes. This makes it possible for brands to provide high-quality full-service experiences at scale.

How TF is Thankful going to use ChatGPT?

Thankful, the team behind AI Agent, is actively testing ways to deploy ChatGPT in customer support. Having successfully integrated ChatGPT with FlowsNext, its no-code experience builder, Thankful has established a framework for adding generative AI to customer support while still enforcing policies. Now the team is in the process of making ChatGPT’s demo ready for business use so brands can blend the empathetic responses generative AI offers with Thankful’s policy controls, full suite of ecommerce integrations, and brand guidelines.

To learn more about Thankful's generative AI, book a 30-minute demo today!

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Topics: Blog, Customer Service, Artificial Intelligence

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