AI chatbots pushing buttons of weary telco customers
Analysis from the communications watchdog released on Wednesday highlighted a third-straight quarter of higher rates of customer complaint referrals being escalated to the industry ombudsman.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority report says 7.1 per cent of customer complaints were referred to the ombudsman, up from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
Referring a complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman means the issue was not able to be resolved between a customer and their provider.
Experts have warned the cost-saving benefits for providers looking to AI to handle customer inquiries do not always produce better experiences.
Chatbots are cheaper to use than call centres, but AI struggles to deal with complex customer complaints.
"It takes too long for the chatbot to say it does not know," Professor Jeannie Peterson told AAP.
"Customers may also be frustrated by the need to constantly repeat the complaint when moving between chatbot and human," the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics co-founder said.
One US survey found 64 per cent of people would prefer companies did not use AI for customer service.
Customers are more likely to have complaints when there is no option to move their inquiry to a human, Professor Reeva Lederman from the University of Melbourne told AAP.
"Chatbots get repetitive and customers feel they are caught in a loop where their question will never be answered," she said.
Using AI to collect customer data for complaints also introduces greater privacy concerns, particularly for people in vulnerable situations or suffering financial problems.
"A real danger is that a person might disclose a threat ... and think there is a real person on the line who might take this further," Prof Lederman said.
A TIO spokeswoman said customer issues with financial hardship had risen 71.9 per cent when compared to the previous year.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said having to refer complaints to the ombudsman added to consumers frustrations about making a complaint in the first place.
"The data shows that some telcos need to do a lot more to address complaints so that customers don't have to escalate the matter to the TIO to have it fixed," she said.
Two of the nation's biggest telcos fared particularly poorly in the ACMA analysis, with Optus (31st) and TPG (34th) occupying spots near the bottom of the 36 ranked companies for rate of referred complaints.
Telstra - Australia's biggest provider - was 18th, with 31 complaints per 10,000 services.
Frustrated Australian telco customers risk being forced into endless question loops with artificial intelligence chatbots while the industry ombudsman deals with more complaints.
Analysis from the communications watchdog released on Wednesday highlighted a third-straight quarter of higher rates of customer complaint referrals being escalated to the industry ombudsman.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority report says 7.1 per cent of customer complaints were referred to the ombudsman, up from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
Referring a complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman means the issue was not able to be resolved between a customer and their provider.
Experts have warned the cost-saving benefits for providers looking to AI to handle customer inquiries do not always produce better experiences.
Chatbots are cheaper to use than call centres, but AI struggles to deal with complex customer complaints.
"It takes too long for the chatbot to say it does not know," Professor Jeannie Peterson told AAP.
"Customers may also be frustrated by the need to constantly repeat the complaint when moving between chatbot and human," the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics co-founder said.
One US survey found 64 per cent of people would prefer companies did not use AI for customer service.
Customers are more likely to have complaints when there is no option to move their inquiry to a human, Professor Reeva Lederman from the University of Melbourne told AAP.
"Chatbots get repetitive and customers feel they are caught in a loop where their question will never be answered," she said.
Using AI to collect customer data for complaints also introduces greater privacy concerns, particularly for people in vulnerable situations or suffering financial problems.
"A real danger is that a person might disclose a threat ... and think there is a real person on the line who might take this further," Prof Lederman said.
A TIO spokeswoman said customer issues with financial hardship had risen 71.9 per cent when compared to the previous year.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said having to refer complaints to the ombudsman added to consumers frustrations about making a complaint in the first place.
"The data shows that some telcos need to do a lot more to address complaints so that customers don't have to escalate the matter to the TIO to have it fixed," she said.
Two of the nation's biggest telcos fared particularly poorly in the ACMA analysis, with Optus (31st) and TPG (34th) occupying spots near the bottom of the 36 ranked companies for rate of referred complaints.
Telstra - Australia's biggest provider - was 18th, with 31 complaints per 10,000 services.
Frustrated Australian telco customers risk being forced into endless question loops with artificial intelligence chatbots while the industry ombudsman deals with more complaints.
Analysis from the communications watchdog released on Wednesday highlighted a third-straight quarter of higher rates of customer complaint referrals being escalated to the industry ombudsman.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority report says 7.1 per cent of customer complaints were referred to the ombudsman, up from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
Referring a complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman means the issue was not able to be resolved between a customer and their provider.
Experts have warned the cost-saving benefits for providers looking to AI to handle customer inquiries do not always produce better experiences.
Chatbots are cheaper to use than call centres, but AI struggles to deal with complex customer complaints.
"It takes too long for the chatbot to say it does not know," Professor Jeannie Peterson told AAP.
"Customers may also be frustrated by the need to constantly repeat the complaint when moving between chatbot and human," the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics co-founder said.
One US survey found 64 per cent of people would prefer companies did not use AI for customer service.
Customers are more likely to have complaints when there is no option to move their inquiry to a human, Professor Reeva Lederman from the University of Melbourne told AAP.
"Chatbots get repetitive and customers feel they are caught in a loop where their question will never be answered," she said.
Using AI to collect customer data for complaints also introduces greater privacy concerns, particularly for people in vulnerable situations or suffering financial problems.
"A real danger is that a person might disclose a threat ... and think there is a real person on the line who might take this further," Prof Lederman said.
A TIO spokeswoman said customer issues with financial hardship had risen 71.9 per cent when compared to the previous year.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said having to refer complaints to the ombudsman added to consumers frustrations about making a complaint in the first place.
"The data shows that some telcos need to do a lot more to address complaints so that customers don't have to escalate the matter to the TIO to have it fixed," she said.
Two of the nation's biggest telcos fared particularly poorly in the ACMA analysis, with Optus (31st) and TPG (34th) occupying spots near the bottom of the 36 ranked companies for rate of referred complaints.
Telstra - Australia's biggest provider - was 18th, with 31 complaints per 10,000 services.
Frustrated Australian telco customers risk being forced into endless question loops with artificial intelligence chatbots while the industry ombudsman deals with more complaints.
Analysis from the communications watchdog released on Wednesday highlighted a third-straight quarter of higher rates of customer complaint referrals being escalated to the industry ombudsman.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority report says 7.1 per cent of customer complaints were referred to the ombudsman, up from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
Referring a complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman means the issue was not able to be resolved between a customer and their provider.
Experts have warned the cost-saving benefits for providers looking to AI to handle customer inquiries do not always produce better experiences.
Chatbots are cheaper to use than call centres, but AI struggles to deal with complex customer complaints.
"It takes too long for the chatbot to say it does not know," Professor Jeannie Peterson told AAP.
"Customers may also be frustrated by the need to constantly repeat the complaint when moving between chatbot and human," the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics co-founder said.
One US survey found 64 per cent of people would prefer companies did not use AI for customer service.
Customers are more likely to have complaints when there is no option to move their inquiry to a human, Professor Reeva Lederman from the University of Melbourne told AAP.
"Chatbots get repetitive and customers feel they are caught in a loop where their question will never be answered," she said.
Using AI to collect customer data for complaints also introduces greater privacy concerns, particularly for people in vulnerable situations or suffering financial problems.
"A real danger is that a person might disclose a threat ... and think there is a real person on the line who might take this further," Prof Lederman said.
A TIO spokeswoman said customer issues with financial hardship had risen 71.9 per cent when compared to the previous year.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said having to refer complaints to the ombudsman added to consumers frustrations about making a complaint in the first place.
"The data shows that some telcos need to do a lot more to address complaints so that customers don't have to escalate the matter to the TIO to have it fixed," she said.
Two of the nation's biggest telcos fared particularly poorly in the ACMA analysis, with Optus (31st) and TPG (34th) occupying spots near the bottom of the 36 ranked companies for rate of referred complaints.
Telstra - Australia's biggest provider - was 18th, with 31 complaints per 10,000 services.
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