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Chatbots are among first apps being produced via GenAI for telcos
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AT&T, BT and SKT are the operators leading the AI charge
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But security and privacy concerns are holding MNOs back from using AI for apps beyond the chatbot
Improving customer experience for the dreaded call center is one of the initial — and key — applications that communications service providers (CSPs) are already using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) for, according to analysts at Appledore Research.
“Chatbots that are not reliant on large language models (LLMs) have already seen extensive adoption within CSPs customer care settings,” said Appledore's principal AI analyst Roman Ferrando.
“Chatbots are good enough to be desirable for customers to use,” Robert Curran, a consulting analyst at Appledore, told Silverlinings by email, adding, "It's pretty early days still.”
AT&T is already making progress with their "Ask AT&T" tool using GenAI, he said. Meanwhile, “BT has a GenAI-based assistant for consumer customers called Aimee,” Curran noted.
SK Telecom invested in Anthropic, a rival to OpenAI and has been an early adopter of AI in general, the analyst stated.
Enterprise-focused Lumen also “just announced promising work with Microsoft Copilot to speed up all sorts of application development,” Curran added.
Ferrando said that vendors like ServiceNow are already offering generative AI for various applications, such as case summarization and conversational exchange. “These initiatives often build upon foundational models like ChatGPT,” the AI analyst noted. Indeed, such apps often just connect to the ChatGPT API, Ferrando said.
Despite these big names and partnerships, challenges around fully adopting GenAI for customer service remain.
“There is considerable hesitation among operators to adopt such technologies, largely owing to privacy concerns,” Ferrando warned. “The sensitivity of customer care data cannot be overstated, and this apprehension is understandable until security and privacy issues are clarified.”
Beyond the chatbot?
So beyond, er, intelligent chatbots, what can CSPs use generative AI for?
“Help guides, setup information, troubleshooting, anything that helps accelerate the knowledge transfer in the resolution of issue,” Curren said. “That will be a huge time-saver for telcos.”
Down the line, there will be the generation of custom code both for networks and to speed up application software development, under the supervision of an expert, the analyst said. “Albeit with some caution” Curran concluded.