ServiceNow and NVIDIA unveil AI-powered customer service avatars
LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES — ServiceNow has unveiled its latest generative AI (GenAI) innovation – digital customer service avatars built in collaboration with NVIDIA.
Showcased at the company’s annual Knowledge 24 event, these interactive digital characters aim to provide “more engaging, personal, employee and customer experiences.”
“As AI becomes deeply ingrained in our everyday lives, customers and employees expect technology to intelligently learn and adapt to their individual work and communication styles,” said ServiceNow President and COO CJ Desai.
“We’re continuously expanding our collaboration with NVIDIA to explore new ways for people to interact with generative AI through Now Assist to help ensure AI is a friendly, engaging, and empathetic experience for everyone, based on users’ preferences.”
Bringing avatars to life
The solution leverages ServiceNow’s Now Assist GenAI platform and NVIDIA’s Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) speech, large language model (LLM), and animation technologies.
This integration facilitates highly realistic and responsive digital avatars that can understand and interact in multiple languages thanks to NVIDIA Riva, provide lifelike facial animations with Audio2Face, and deliver visually stunning experiences through Omniverse Renderer.
The potential applications for these avatars span various sectors, including HR, finance, IT, retail, and travel. They have particular benefits for internal processes, such as guiding employees through work policies and software usage.
While no official release date for the AI avatars was confirmed after the demo, the partnership between ServiceNow and NVIDIA hints at ongoing enhancements to make GenAI an integral part of business operations and customer interactions.
“Customer service is essential to healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, and many other industries, making it one of the largest generative AI use cases,” said Manuvir Das, vice president, enterprise computing at NVIDIA.
“ServiceNow is at the forefront of bringing generative AI to the world’s enterprises to support billions of hours of service requests, and our work together can help us identify new ways to interact with Now Assist, so users quickly get the help they need.”
53% of consumers still prefer human agents over AI
Real-time AI coaching firm Cogito revealed that most consumers still prefer human interaction for addressing complex customer service issues despite recent advances in AI and automation.
The research found that 53% of consumers would rather speak to a live agent on the phone when dealing with complicated support questions. In contrast, only 17% said they would opt for a digital self-service channel like live chat.
However, the study also showed consumers are open to human agents being assisted by AI tools in the background. In fact, 46% of those surveyed said they would prefer to talk to a real person who is using AI to enhance the interaction.
So, while AI and automation provide efficiency gains, brands still need to focus on the human element of customer service. The ideal approach is to combine AI capabilities with empathetic human agents who can build rapport and trust.
A separate McKinsey survey revealed that providers are leaning towards AI-driven solutions to meet heightened consumer expectations and commercial objectives.
