GenAI – the Next Big Thing You Need to Know About
We believe that generative AI (GenAI and chatbots) build on platforms will become the number one way businesses engage with their customers (and do business) in a few years and will result in the shrinkage of traditional websites and the reduction in the creation of mobile apps.
There are a number of reasons why this is the case.
People don’t use apps they download
The app economy has stalled. Consumers across all sectors have app fatigue and are no longer downloading new apps anywhere close to previous levels. And if they are, many tend to use an app only once and then delete it.
Mobile apps take up valuable real estate on your phone. Considering that apps are expensive and time-consuming to build, the future for growth in mobile apps looks grim when compared to GenAI. Why? Because GenAI services do what an app can do but don’t need to be downloaded – they live on servers, not a user’s device – so they are easier and less expensive to create, update and deliver to customers. They are frictionless in the true sense of the word.
Facebook messenger growing faster than Facebook
GenAI on a messaging service, such as Facebook, WeChat or WhatsApp, is where the growth will be. Over 1 billion people every month use Facebook. Over 2.5 billion people use a messaging app and teenagers – your next customers – spend more time on messaging services than on social media now, including SnapChat, Facebook and Instagram.
As businesses move to messaging apps to communicate with customers, and away from face-to-face communications, it will be necessary to have one computer communicating with all of the customers at once to replace humans.
Only way to scale customer service
GenAI and chatbots are the only way to accomplish this with scale, whereby the chatbot replaces expensive call centres with answers relevant to the business or the brand.
They will be plugged into databases of information and equipped with AI and machine learning to learn about customers as they use the services. While customers are learning about the services, machines are learning about the customer. Learning about the customer will allow GenAI systems to predict the customer’s wants and improve the delivery of services to individual customers for next to no money. Requests can be processed instantly and because they are simply computers, customer interactions, requests, orders and such can be funnelled back to the company for analytics and to spot changes in trends for growth.
Chatbots self-improve
Because GenAI systems self-improve over time and with continued use, they represent an enormous opportunity for cost savings for companies. A company has to keep improving and updating a website or an app – not so a chatbot – it improves all on its own if it has an AI component that helps it to learn by interacting with customers.
GenAI will not only replace the use of many mobile apps, they will also change the way websites are used. In a few years, websites will be more like landing pages only, directing customers and potential customers to GenAI or chatbots.
Every business will have a chatbot
Every single business and service will have to adopt and develop GenAI for several reasons: customers will start to demand it; the services will be more efficient and consistent; and economies of scale will mean that it will no longer be competitive not to provide a GenAI service with AI built in. Customers using message services will demand “instant interaction” and instant results from governments, banks, and service providers.