"Even in the AI era, customer complaints should be handled by people"

[Financial News] As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) spreads, a "Zero Click" trend is taking hold, in which people delegate decisions and choices that they once made themselves to AI. It was also advised that customer complaints should be handled by people, since consumers want to feel a sense of closeness to companies that provide AI services and make decisions on their behalf.
In an interview released on the SK Telecom Newsroom on the 27th, Kim Nando, a member of the SK Telecom Customer Trust Committee, said, "The era of 'Zero Click' has arrived." He added, "When consumers type something into a search box, the AI Engine now presents an answer first, and the number of cases in which they directly click the links below is gradually declining," describing how consumer behavior is changing in the AI era.
He also noted that in the purchasing process, consumers used to search and compare various conditions on their own before making a final choice, but now much of that process is being left to AI.

Kim said, "In the AI era, AI is taking up a larger share of consumption and decision-making," and predicted that "consumers will come to see companies not simply as providers of AI products and services, but more like people or friends."
He emphasized that closeness between companies and customers will become even more important in the AI era, and predicted that demands for stronger security and information management will rise as well.
He pointed out, "If a customer has trusted a company with their information, there must be firm confidence that the information will be properly managed." He added, "People may become less reluctant to provide personal information, but if a company fails to manage or leaks information that was entrusted to it, customers will not easily accept that."

Kim predicted that non-face-to-face customer service using AI will spread rapidly, but argued that "not every customer touchpoint can be replaced by AI, and the area of responding to consumer complaints should be handled by people."
He said, "Consumers want to feel that their complaints have actually led to change," adding that "if AI handles that process instead, they may feel their concerns were not properly conveyed, which could make their dissatisfaction even greater."
He also stressed that Voice of the Customer (VoC) should not end with simply resolving complaints on the spot.
Kim said, "Cases and statistics accumulated in the process of handling consumer complaints must be passed on to the teams responsible for products and services so they can lead to actual improvements." He added, "That is because VoC contains important clues about what companies need to improve in the future."
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter