Published November 14, 2024
We’ve all had the experience—probably more times than we care to admit—of yelling into a phone receiver, “Just give me a human being!” after what feels like the umpteenth set of automated options on a customer service line. However, many of us have probably also found ourselves almost missing the clear and soothing tones of the automated assistant after being transferred to a customer service agent with an almost indecipherable foreign accent and, if possible, even less empathy and imagination than the robot we were previously speaking to. “Transfer me to your manager!” we may bark out if we’re having a particularly bad day.
New artificial intelligence companies like Sierra are promising to spare you that bad day, using generative AI to replace bad robots—and robotic humans—with genuinely helpful robots. The company, already valued at $4 billion, is one of several AI firms promising to revolutionize the global customer-service industry, trimming much of its $120 billion in annual labor costs and making life better for consumers at the same time.
Click here to continue reading.
Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., is a Fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping public leaders understand the intellectual and historical foundations of our current breakdown of public trust, social cohesion, and sound governance. His research investigates shifting understandings of the nature of freedom and authority, and how a more full-orbed conception of freedom, rooted in the Christian tradition, can inform policy that respects both the dignity of the individual and the urgency of the common good. He also serves as President of the Davenant Institute.
