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Sierra Says Conversational AI Will Kill Apps and Websites

Sierra hopes every company will use its empathetic AI chatbots for customer interactions.

That’s why companies constantly use phone support systems and websites for customer interactions, and why corporations often take extreme measures to make it difficult to connect with the humans still necessary for those whose problems can’t be solved with a menu choice, or who just need to have questions answered in natural language. “But ask the same 100 people, ‘Do you like ChatGPT?’, and 100 out of 100 will say yes.” That’s why Sierra thinks it can provide the best of both worlds: effective interactions that customers love, with the benefits of a no-down-time robot that’s not on the health plan. He envisions someone unsteadily holding a phone to his mouth outside a dive bar at 2 am and saying, “I’m drunk.” Without any elaboration, Viv would contact the user’s preferred car service, dispatch it to the address where he’s half passed out, and direct the driver to take him home.

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