To some people, the term “artificial intelligence” sparks images of sci-fi movies about robot takeovers. Others think of AI as an exciting step toward an advancing future. Regardless of how each person thinks of AI, the fact is that it’s all around us and has more of an impact on our daily lives and interactions than most people realize.

As a business, harnessing artificial intelligence can be a game-changer for your bottom line, especially if you’re making use of conversational AI. What is conversational AI and what can it do for you? Let’s take a closer look at this advanced technology and its ever-expanding potential.

What Is Conversational AI?

Conversational AI is an advanced form of artificial intelligence that is able to interpret and digest natural language that users input, even coming up with a response that also sounds conversationally natural. This works because the AI is continuously building a knowledge base about language, how people use language in conversation, common slang and language structures, and so on.

The AI uses techniques like natural language processing or NLP to interpret users’ responses rather than restricting the communication to a series of multiple-choice questions that might not align with users’ needs. The goal here is to have more natural interactions with users.

Conversational AI has several practical and profitable uses. Most of us have at one time been trapped in a maze of automated call routing or chatbot routing menus that don’t apply to what we need, and it’s frustrating, to say the least. When used for chats and call answering, conversational AI aims to end these problems while also reducing the need for support staff.

Conversational AI is also highly helpful for market research. It can gather and interpret more authentic information from users because they can input their honest impressions and ideas rather than choosing from a list of pre-set options.

How Conversational AI Works

Conversational AI is an extraordinarily unique technology that progressively becomes better and more accurate. It has an extensive language database that teaches the AI how people use language in conversation. When a user types in a question or a response, the AI uses that knowledge to interpret what they are saying and answer them appropriately or incorporate their answer into your market research data.

Behind the scenes, the AI is using advanced processes like NLP to interpret responses from users with different native languages, dialects, and speaking patterns. In the process, every interaction adds to the AI’s language database so that the next time it is communicating with someone who has similar speaking patterns, it’s even better equipped to understand them and respond appropriately.

Why is Conversational AI Beneficial for Businesses?

Conversational AI is fascinating from an innovation standpoint, but for businesses, it can be a genuinely profitable asset too. In fact, there are several applications of conversational AI that can benefit your business.

Gather More Useful Survey Data

With a typical market research study, you have two options: you can guess what potential responses your subjects might have for each question and use them as multiple-choice options, or you can collect open-ended responses to each question and later read through and analyze all those responses. The first option can make your data less accurate, and the second option can be expensive and time-consuming.

A conversational AI survey is the best of both worlds. You can allow subjects to type in their authentic ideas and answers, and in the background, the AI can analyze those answers and break them down into digestible data. You get both accurate and actionable takeaways from your survey.

Reduce Personnel Costs

While conversational AI is a breakthrough technology for surveys, conversational AI and chatbots also make a fantastic pair. Depending on the specific tool and technology you use, a conversational AI chatbot could access and provide customer account information, process payments, gather and respond to feedback, and more. All this means you can reduce your support team and lower your labor costs in the process.

Improve the Customer or Respondent Experience

In addition to giving you better data and more effective chatbots, conversational AI has a less quantifiable benefit: it provides every customer or survey respondent with a more positive experience. Not only do they feel like they’re having a more natural conversation, but they’re more likely to feel heard and, in the case of chatbots, get the answers they need. Ultimately, a more positive experience means a more positive impression of your business, and that can add up to stronger revenues.

Putting Conversational AI to Use

Conversational AI is a continuously improving technology with extensive promise to make life better for businesses and consumers alike if it’s used well. If you’d like to see firsthand what conversational AI can do for you in your market research, learn more about GroupSolver and our innovative survey tool today.