In a recent video released, Zhou Hongyi conducted an in-depth discussion on the future of artificial intelligence (AI), expressing his views on the relationship between AI and humans. He pointed out that although many people are worried that AI will replace their jobs, at the current stage, AI cannot completely replace humans.
Zhou Hongyi emphasized that even as AI technology continues to advance, it still requires human management and guidance. Future job roles will more often shift towards managing, organizing, and training these intelligent entities. He mentioned the case of a Swedish payment company that once publicly announced that its AI customer service system could replace 700 human customer service representatives. Initially, the performance of the AI customer service was indeed impressive, as it could handle most common customer inquiries and significantly improved work efficiency.
Image source note: The image is AI-generated, and the image licensing service provider is Midjourney
However, over time, the company had to rehire human customer service representatives, and its strategy underwent a complete turnaround. The reason was that while AI customer service could handle routine issues, it often performed poorly when dealing with complex customer needs and emotions. It frequently misunderstood customer intentions, providing irrelevant or even misleading answers, which left customers disappointed.
Surveys show that more than two-thirds of consumers have had unpleasant experiences communicating with AI customer service, and nearly 90% of users prefer customer service with empathy and a human touch. Therefore, Zhou Hongyi emphasized that AI should serve as an auxiliary tool for human customer service, not a complete replacement for human interaction.
Zhou Hongyi's perspective reminds us that despite the rapid development of AI technology, humans still possess unique and irreplaceable abilities in areas such as emotional understanding, complex problem-solving, and creative thinking. When using AI, companies should inform customers that these intelligent tools are intended to improve service efficiency, not to replace the warmth of human service.