Is OpenAI Going After Call Center Jobs with ChatGPT?
Is OpenAI using its new 1-800-ChatGPT voice/messaging feature to pilot replacing call center staff with AI? Providing familiar phone/chat access seems like it could be testing grounds before offering ChatGPT agents to businesses for major cost savings over human workers.
OpenAI recently announced an experimental new feature called 1-800-ChatGPT that allows users to talk to the AI chatbot over the phone or through WhatsApp messaging. By calling 1-800-242-8478 in the US and Canada or messaging that number on WhatsApp, users can have a voice or text conversation with ChatGPT for up to 15 minutes per month for free. [1]
This move to make ChatGPT more accessible via familiar channels like phone calls and WhatsApp messaging had me thinking - is OpenAI aiming to eventually replace human call center agents with AI? And are they using this to pilot the technology to eventually offer it to big businesses?
Reducing Costs and Overhead
One major advantage of using AI like ChatGPT in call centers is the potential for massive cost savings compared to employing human agents. AI agents don't require salaries, benefits, or physical workspace. They can operate 24/7 without breaks and scale infinitely based on demand. A recent Forbes article cited concerns from Indian IT firms that AI could soon "take over much of the work of human contact center agents" through capabilities like predicting incoming calls and using chatbots.[2]
This may even sound enticing to many people. Call centers that need human labor often have hours of operation. Can you imagine having an AI call center that operates 27/7 to answers your customers questions? The AI has been trained to handle the calls from their customers. As a matter of fact, many of them record these phone calls... this could allow call centers to augment (or even train a model) on the responses they've done in the past. Then add on AI Text to Action (with guard rails)... now you have a call center that can offer your customers help with questions and pre-canned tasks.
OpenAI is a for-profit AI research company that recently raised over $6 billion at a staggering $157 billion valuation.[3] Deploying their AI to reduce labor costs in the multi-billion dollar call center industry could be an extremely lucrative opportunity for OpenAI to monetize their technology.
This accessible voice and chat interface could also open up new opportunities for OpenAI to market ChatGPT's capabilities to small and medium-sized businesses. Many smaller companies can't afford dedicated customer service staff to answer phones or chats around the clock. Offering an AI agent like ChatGPT as a low-cost alternative to handle incoming calls and messages could be very appealing. OpenAI may even allow these businesses to purchase or transfer their existing phone numbers into a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) service powered by ChatGPT, essentially outsourcing their call center operations to the AI. OpenAI could be testing the waters with this free 1-800 hotline before making a paid SIP offering to businesses that can't afford human agents available 24/7.
Handling Simple, Repetitive Tasks
While still limited compared to humans, AI like ChatGPT excels at quickly handling simple, repetitive requests and queries. Many call center interactions today involve routine tasks like providing account information, processing payments, scheduling appointments, or answering frequently asked questions. These are exactly the type of interactions that could be automated using conversational AI agents.
I have some security concerns with this. Yes, you can augment the AI with only the data for that customer; however, AI prompt injection is still a new concept we're still discovering. And with the AI having access to even basic Text to Action functionality, it could open the door to attackers exploiting businesses that aren't prepared.
An article from CMSWire discusses how conversational AI and chatbots have already been used to great effect in call centers during the pandemic to "address common customer queries efficiently" when call volumes spiked.[4] ChatGPT's impressive language abilities could make it well-suited for this type of task automation.
Augmenting Rather Than Replacing Human Agents
However, there are some very compelling counterarguments that OpenAI is not truly aiming to replace all human call center workers with AI, at least not yet. Most experts argue that AI will likely augment and work alongside human agents rather than entirely replace them in the near future.
For example, the CMSWire article notes that while automation can handle simple queries, "for brands' call center agents, conversational AI allows them to focus their time and energy on more interesting, complex issues while automation takes care of repetitive tasks."[4:1] So AI could enhance human productivity by offloading rote work.
Human agents also provide emotional intelligence, empathy, and ability to have nuanced personal interactions that today's AI still cannot match, according to insights from Forbes AI Council members:
"Human conversations are nuanced, filled with emotions, context and subtext that are difficult for AI to fully comprehend and respond to accurately...Customers appreciate when they feel heard and valued, which is something that human agents are adept at providing."[2:1]
So while OpenAI's new voice/messaging ChatGPT access could be a first step towards AI call center agents, it seems the technology still has limitations. A hybrid human-AI model where the two collaborate is more likely the end goal for now.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI's move to make ChatGPT accessible via phone and messaging certainly opens up new possibilities for deploying the AI to call centers and customer service roles. The potential for cost savings is immense, and the AI excels at quickly handling simple, repetitive requests.
However, most experts argue that AI is not yet advanced enough to fully replace human agents. A more realistic scenario is that AI will increasingly automate routine tasks and queries, while human agents focus on more complex issues requiring emotional intelligence that ChatGPT still cannot provide.
So while OpenAI may be eyeing call center jobs as a lucrative use case, a collaborative hybrid model blending AI and human agents is likely the path forward, at least in the short term. As the technology continues advancing, that could certainly evolve—which is perhaps OpenAI's ultimate goal with making ChatGPT more accessible than ever.