In the simplest form, artificial intelligence (AI) is a computer system’s ability to perform tasks that would typically require human intervention. In a customer service interaction, AI is often leveraged as a self-service channel.

Self-serve automation has been around for a long time. Take a vending machine for example. With little human interaction, you can perform a transaction and be serviced the snack of your choice through self-service automation. As simple of a process as it may be, this is one of the first forms of customer self-service.

Self-service has come a long way since the invention of a vending machine. Using AI, we have the ability to analyze deeper data, translate, recognize natural language, and process automation without human intervention.