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Thoughts after reading the comments so far: I acknowledge ChatGPT grade models are very expensive to operate and that there are still real performance limitati

Thoughts after reading the comments so far: I acknowledge ChatGPT grade models are very expensive to operate and that there are still real performance limitations/issues that make it not yet appropriate for autonomous handling of hard transactions. Yet, we still have a new level of capability that is seriously better than anything we've had before. I'm thinking about the acrobatics I've gone through recently trying to get certain answers from airlines, mail carriers and insurance companies just to even locate the right portion of the site or the right person to speak with. It truly seems ChatGPT would have well outperformed the www and phone channels I went through as an entry point for my journey. So, given the new capabilities we're seeing with large language models: 1. Will WELL FUNDED companies START ASSESSING chat interfaces as a primary customer entry point - not to autonomously handle hard transactions, but to at least start the customer journey down an efficient path? 2. If so, how will this play out in terms of the evolving supply chain? And, I would add: 3. If the answer to the first question is "no", what are the key improvements we need to see before that does happen and over what timeline should we expect to see those improvements?

jstx1 4y ago
So you want a customer support chatbot? Which can't even handle transactions? It seems pretty underwhelming as far as ChatGPT applications go.
- crosen99 4y ago
  No, that’s not what I want. It could be a new single all encompassing entry point for any customer/persona to most efficiently get either the information they want or the application/person they need to handle a hard transaction.
  - jstx1 4y ago
    I don't know what these words mean. Take Amazon shopping. Right now I go to their homepage, search, browse, add to basket, check out. Occasionally I look through my order history to start a return; and very rarely I contact support if there's some problem like a refund not being processed. What does chat.amazon.com look like under your vision? What's different?
    - crosen99 4y ago
      Amazon is already close to this sort of interface from a UX perspective because the main feature on the Amazon www homepage is a search field. But, here are a couple of difference that the user would see at chat.amazon.com compared to the current homepage: 1. For the use case where you are searching for a specific product, you could much more efficiently get from the search box to the product you want. Think about all of the text entry and clicks you would go through now to find exactly the right product that meets all of your needs including function, size, price, color, review sentiment, compatibility, etc. And compare that effort to if you had an executive assistant to whom you could quickly rattle off your needs and preferences and then maybe answer a clarifying question or two. chat.amazon.com would be like that executive assistant. 2. For all the other use cases (i.e. returns, shipping status, subscription preferences, etc.), you don't have to fiddle through the menu options to finally land at the point you wanted. You just say, "I want to change my default shipping address from ABC to XYZ", and you land a page with the new address parsed into all the correct fields, ready for you to confirm the change. Now, I will grant you that there is some ground to travel in ML development before this particular set of functionality could be implemented, but you chose Amazon and I wanted to be directly responsive. The point is that ML technology after many years finally seems close - very close - to all this being real. It's not hard to imagine this is where things are heading, and so will 2023 be the year CEOs and CTOs of well funded companies start moving in this direction.
      - saulpw 4y ago
        Amazon could have made their UX much more efficient over the past 20 years. They have consistently decided not to; in some cases it has gotten less efficient. Efficiency is not in their interest, just like it is not in the supermarket's interest to allow you to find your groceries in the most efficient manner.
        crosen99 4y ago
        Getting you to your product page more directly doesn’t eliminate marketing opportunities. It just changes them. When you land quickly on your product page you can still be peppered with other buying opportunities. And in the cases of administering your account, efficiency is only a net positive.

jstx1 4y ago

So you want a customer support chatbot? Which can't even handle transactions? It seems pretty underwhelming as far as ChatGPT applications go.

crosen99 4y ago
No, that’s not what I want. It could be a new single all encompassing entry point for any customer/persona to most efficiently get either the information they want or the application/person they need to handle a hard transaction.
- jstx1 4y ago
  I don't know what these words mean. Take Amazon shopping. Right now I go to their homepage, search, browse, add to basket, check out. Occasionally I look through my order history to start a return; and very rarely I contact support if there's some problem like a refund not being processed. What does chat.amazon.com look like under your vision? What's different?
  - crosen99 4y ago
    Amazon is already close to this sort of interface from a UX perspective because the main feature on the Amazon www homepage is a search field. But, here are a couple of difference that the user would see at chat.amazon.com compared to the current homepage: 1. For the use case where you are searching for a specific product, you could much more efficiently get from the search box to the product you want. Think about all of the text entry and clicks you would go through now to find exactly the right product that meets all of your needs including function, size, price, color, review sentiment, compatibility, etc. And compare that effort to if you had an executive assistant to whom you could quickly rattle off your needs and preferences and then maybe answer a clarifying question or two. chat.amazon.com would be like that executive assistant. 2. For all the other use cases (i.e. returns, shipping status, subscription preferences, etc.), you don't have to fiddle through the menu options to finally land at the point you wanted. You just say, "I want to change my default shipping address from ABC to XYZ", and you land a page with the new address parsed into all the correct fields, ready for you to confirm the change. Now, I will grant you that there is some ground to travel in ML development before this particular set of functionality could be implemented, but you chose Amazon and I wanted to be directly responsive. The point is that ML technology after many years finally seems close - very close - to all this being real. It's not hard to imagine this is where things are heading, and so will 2023 be the year CEOs and CTOs of well funded companies start moving in this direction.
    - saulpw 4y ago
      Amazon could have made their UX much more efficient over the past 20 years. They have consistently decided not to; in some cases it has gotten less efficient. Efficiency is not in their interest, just like it is not in the supermarket's interest to allow you to find your groceries in the most efficient manner.
      - crosen99 4y ago
        Getting you to your product page more directly doesn’t eliminate marketing opportunities. It just changes them. When you land quickly on your product page you can still be peppered with other buying opportunities. And in the cases of administering your account, efficiency is only a net positive.