Copilot: Bridging the Gap Between AI and Human Interaction in Helpdesks

Copilot is a concept where human and AI complement each other (akin to symbiosis in biology).

Usually, a person formulates the task, and AI handles its parts. This article explores the interaction between AI and specialists in helpdesk chats.

In essence, a helpdesk serves as a dispatch center, assisting clients with their pressing issues. Typically, it includes:

• Tools for receiving user queries from various channels (Website, Telegram, Email, etc.).
• A unified tool for responding to user queries and configuring flows for different question types. User queries are commonly referred to as incidents, going through several stages and closing when the user's issue is resolved.
• Analytics tools for operators, question types, and issue sources. Analytics helps improve the entire support system.
• A knowledge base where support service managers add answers to frequently asked questions and other information for consistent and high-quality responses from all operators.
• Automation tools - triggers, integrations, bots.

Let's delve into the last point, specifically the creation of chatbots for technical support.

To ensure high-quality technical support, companies need a support department ready for peak loads. However, maintaining a support department ready for peak loads is expensive and usually not cost-effective.

In 2023, a new solution emerged for providing quality chat responses in natural language without significant development costs - chatbots based on large language models (such as ChatGPT, LLaMA). They inherently understand natural language and only require the company's technical support knowledge base. Such chatbots easily handle typical questions, and complex ones can be transferred to operators.

And here we come to the concept of symbiosis or Copilot.

Many professionals believe that AI will not radically replace humans in the coming years, but Copilot will emerge in various professions:

• GitHub created a superb assistant for developers, GitHub Copilot, which completes functions, checks code, and generates simple logic.
• Midjourney did the same for designers and copywriters - quick assistance in creating drawings or prototypes.
• Tesla introduced Copilot for drivers.

ChatGPT is a specialized Copilot for text-related work for everyone.

In Google Workspace, Duet has appeared to help business users solve typical tasks with documents and emails.

Chatbot and Support Specialist Together

In the simplest case, a chatbot works like this:

• IF it finds an article with the user's query answer in the knowledge base,
• THEN provide the user with an answer based on the information in the article,
• ELSE switch to the operator.

Of course, there are many nuances: handling greetings, farewells, profanity, clarifying questions, etc.

However, there are more interesting symbiotic scenarios. For example, when an operator receives a question, in their response text field, the bot writes an answer, and the operator decides whether to send it or make corrections.

Also, the AI bot can connect to a regular scripted bot on one of the branches. This is convenient when there are too many response options at one step in the flow.

Interestingly, one of our clients independently invented Copilot. The client was hesitant to deploy the bot to real users initially, so they instructed support specialists to send all user queries to the bot. Thanks to this idea, problematic questions were identified within a month, the knowledge base was improved, and the chatbot was introduced into real support processes.

Thus, I've outlined three Copilot scenarios in support chats:

1. AI answers simple questions; humans handle complex ones.
2. AI generates an answer, and humans decide whether to send it or enhance it.
3. AI integrates into scripted bots.

I believe that any helpdesk should possess AI capabilities to compete in the future market.

It would be great to organize an open discussion on helpdesk development.

Join the post and share your vision:

• Do you think Copilot is needed in helpdesks?
• Are you integrating AI into your helpdesk?
• What are your plans for helpdesk development in 2024?

I know that most users dislike old chatbots. A car used to be slower and less stable than a horse. We are creating new intelligent chatbots to solve your problems faster. I would appreciate your responses:

• Share your latest experience interacting with a bot.
• Were there cases where a bot answered your questions well?
• Do you want to know if you're chatting with a bot, or is it enough to get a proper answer to your question?