What service quality dimensions can chatbots help a firm? HOW AI IS REVOLUTIONIZING CUSTOMER SERVICE Much of the talk surrounding robots in the workforce has centered on robots performing manufacturing jobs or taking the place of cashiers. But the expanding capabilities for artificial intelligence (AI) mean that robots are spreading into other fields, such as sales and marketing. Chatbots—whose software enables them to converse with human counterparts

—have been around since 1966,29 though only recently did they become part of consumers’ lives. Early chatbots, such as AOL Instant Messenger’s SmarterChild, were not particularly sophisticated, though, limiting both their ability to understand the nuances of human conversation and their appeal in practice.30 As AI technology continues to advance, these limits are disappearing. A chatbot designed by Conversica effectively communicates with customers to generate sales. Companies that sign up with Conversica can pick the name and gender of their chatbot. Then, as sales leads come in to the company, the dedicated chatbot gets in touch with the customer via email or text message. If the customer shows interest, this chatbot puts them in contact with a human representative who can close the deal.31 The use of this tool for the initial contacts frees sales representatives from having to generate leads; they can devote all their time to interacting with customers who are actually interested in buying, instead of wasting time with unproductive cold-calling.