Gone are the days when artificial intelligence (AI) was a mere buzzword. Today, AI is transforming our lifestyle. AI enables machines to perform a myriad of tasks with minimal human interference. Whether in sales, marketing, or customer service, AI has revamped business processes. According to a recent Gartner report1, 55% of established companies have started making investments in AI or have prioritized it for their immediate plan of action.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has amazing potential to drive customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is a huge priority for most businesses. It’s one of the key facets of customer retention, as it reduces customer churn. Reducing churn is desirable since it typically costs four times more to gain a new customer than to keep hold of an existing customer. You also have a 70% probability of making a sale to an existing customer, versus 20% to a new customer.

Advancements in automation and artificial intelligence (AI) have revolutionized the business sector. Automation allows for concise, timely, and accurate service, which is in demand from a society accustomed to instant gratification. The predictive power of artificial intelligence allows businesses to improve upon their service. The end result is a fast, reliable, and effective customer service department, powered by AI and backed up by human agents.

The myths around AI have been nothing if not sticky. Fifty years after Hal 9000 made moviegoers very afraid, consumers continue to believe both that robots will replace humans — and also that AI is a thing of the future. The reality? Neither is true.

We live in an era where technology is advancing so quickly that it’s hard to keep up. Think back to ten or even twenty years ago when you needed to get to a business meeting. You had to print out your plane ticket, rental car information, and sometimes even directions on where you needed to go.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been a hot topic within the customer support community recently and there are many good reasons for that. By using AI intelligently (no pun intended) support teams can be more efficient and effective, and create a better experience for customers, all without sacrificing quality.

Imagine the benefit your business could achieve if every customer interaction was intelligent? Artificially intelligent? Yes. The era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has dawned upon us. From personal assistants on our smartphones to bring the keyword at boardroom meetings, AI is now ubiquitous.. But, what makes AI a beeline for personalized customer support?

Visionaries in the field of artificial intelligence in customer service see radical changes on the horizon, with a tipping point lying just a few years in the future. And if the prognostications of these experts—Zendesk partners Rick Nucci of Guru, Mike Murchison of Ada, and Mikhail Naumov of DigitalGenius—come to pass, AI will upend how customer service teams work in ways that will have far-reaching ramifications for companies across the globe.

Artificial intelligence used to only exist in science fiction films. That’s no longer the case. Today, brands are using it to improve efficiency and productivity in all areas of business. In fact, 55% of established companies have either started making investments in artificial intelligence or are planning to do so by 2020. These investments can come in many forms, but one of the most effective is in using artificial intelligence to power chatbots.

Thrun, who founded the famous Google car project and is the chairman of Udacity, is bang on. If you really think about it, all of AI is basically a march towards building machines which can behave, process, and think like humans (but of course, not replace them).