Customer service gets human again

Eschewing automation, Netflix puts folks on the phone in hopes of achieving competitive advantage

So the news that Netflix is investing in its customer service strategy, as reported by The New York Times, is heartening for those of us who rely on customer service from time to time — but perhaps disheartening for providers that specialize in automated customer service technology.

Netflix’s solution runs counter to every high-tech business strategy I have ever heard: The DVD rental company is putting customer service reps back on phones rather than trying to reduce the workforce and costs associated with customer service by automating the experience through technology, which typically includes a Web interface or e-mail interaction.

But with Blockbuster suddenly giving Netflix a run for its money, Netflix officials believe customer service can provide it a competitive advantage. Perhaps if done well.

Notably, Netflix went even one step further. Not only did it turn its back on technology by returning to a human interface, it chose not to use an offshore service provider. Rather, it located its phone banks outside Portland, Ore.

The Times quotes Michael Osier, vice president of IT operations and customer service at Netflix, as saying that “it’s amazing how consistent people are in their politeness and empathy” in the greater Portland area.

For those who firmly believe that technology can be used to solve any problem and that it is superior to most human solutions, the Netflix move has to be disappointing.

What we are witnessing here is a perfect example of what is sometimes called the “uncanny valley.” There are many definitions of this term, but let me explain how one expert in artificial intelligence defines it.

E-mail is not a robust technology solution. Rather, it is just another away of saying to the customer, “Talk to the hand.” In other words, send a letter.

I think companies are confusing the use of a computer interface with the true meaning of high tech. Let’s face it, e-mail as a technology is simply not smart enough to provide high-quality customer service.

This despite the fact that once the e-mail is received, companies usually deploy some kind of NLU (natural language understanding) technology that attempts to interpret the e-mail by looking for particular words and phrases before determining how to resolve the issue.

Unfortunately, NLU technology isn’t fully up to the task yet, and this is where we begin to enter that uncanny valley, according to Eliezer Yudkowsky, research fellow and co-founder of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Yudkowsky says, with a laugh in his voice, that we certainly know more than we did 200 years ago about customer service, “but not quite enough.”

By that Yudkowsky means that although technology may be capable of solving any problem, time remains a factor. Today we can build skyscrapers much taller than ourselves or steam shovels far stronger than we are, but remember, says Yudkowsky, the human species was running around for tens of thousands of years before we created such marvels.

“There is always time, and there is also the uncanny valley,” Yudkowsky says, explaining the “uncanny valley” as a gap between two systems.

One system is so dumb that we don’t expect it to be helpful. The other system is so lifelike and helpful that it fools us into thinking it is human.

In between is the uncanny valley, technology that works just well enough for us to be disappointed with it.

As a consumer who has spent many frustrating hours punching in selections on my telephone keypad or waiting for an e-mail response to arrive in my inbox, I’m of the mind that most automated customer service technologies are stuck in this uncanny valley.

Someday technology will evolve to offer reliable customer service, but until then it might not be a bad idea for companies to turn their backs on hype from customer service technology vendors and just follow Netflix’s lead.