Advanced · AI in your sector · module 133 of 155
AI in customer service
Use a chatbot or draft answers for customer questions, with clear limits and an easy route to a staff member.
After this lesson
You decide which questions a chatbot may answer, when a staff member takes over and how you inform customers honestly.
In view · Step by step
A chatbot with a door to a human
Opening hours, delivery times and return rules from the approved FAQ.
Complaints, claims, personal files and anyone who asks for a human.
Spot checks, handovers and test cases after every change.
Part 1 of 3 · Fixed answers
Your preference for less movement is on. Choose each part yourself.
Start with the questions that come up often
A chatbot or an assistant for draft answers works best for questions with a clear, fixed answer: opening hours, delivery times, how to return something. Base the answers on an approved, up-to-date source, such as your own FAQ (lessons 59 and 75). Also set out what the chatbot does not do: no promising prices or discounts that are not in the source, no legal or medical statements, and no decisions on refunds.
A person within reach
Customers must always be able to reach a staff member. Have the chatbot refer them on in the case of a complaint, a damage claim, a question about a personal file, an angry customer or if the customer asks for it. Pass the conversation on to the staff member, so the customer does not have to explain everything again. Tell the customer that they are talking to an AI system; that is also an obligation under the AI Act (lesson 116). Do not promise a waiting time you cannot deliver.
Measure and improve
Track which questions the chatbot answers well, when customers drop out and how often conversations are referred on (lesson 85). Regularly read through a sample of conversations, without keeping more personal data than necessary. A question that often goes wrong is a signal to adjust the source or the limits. Test every change with your test set before it goes live (lesson 113). Satisfaction is not only about speed: a fast but wrong answer costs more time later.
New practice example
From explanation to a usable result.
A chatbot answers standard questions from an approved source and hands over anything that calls for a decision or a personal approach.
Fictional practice situationFictional: a bicycle shop receives these questions via chat: “Until what time are you open?”, “My bike already broke after two weeks, what now?”, “What pressure should I pump my tyres up to?” and “I want to speak to someone.”
View a possible solution
This is how it can be done
Opening hours and tyre pressure: the chatbot answers from the FAQ. Broken bike after two weeks: hand over to a member of staff, because it concerns the warranty. “I want to speak to someone”: hand over immediately, without discouraging the customer.
Why this works
The line lies at questions that call for a decision or a personal judgement, and at every customer who wants to speak to a person.
Make it slightly more difficult
Write the message the chatbot gives when it hands over. What does the customer need to know about the next step?
Extra practice, at your own pace. You do not need to submit anything. This does not count towards an automatic assessment.
Your workplace · learning by doing
Make something. See what changes.
Checking the AI connection… You can already view the written example.
Present your assignment to Ende.
Read the answer, change one thing, and compare.
Previously held
New version
You remain in control
What do you want to improve in your next attempt?
On this device only. AI answers remain only in this page memory. This is self-review, not a grade.
Why this approach works
The line lies at questions that call for a decision or a personal judgement, and at every customer who wants to speak to a person.
A step further
Write the message the chatbot gives when it hands over. What does the customer need to know about the next step?
Try & discover · no obligation
Organise meeting notes
Categorise the notes as decision, action or open question. Make missing owners and deadlines visible.
Fictional rules for an online shop’s chatbot: the chatbot answers questions that have a fixed answer from the FAQ. For complaints, claims, personal files or if the customer asks for it, a staff member takes over.
- Chatbot
- 0
- Staff member
- 0
The chatbot can handle questions with a fixed answer. A decision about a customer, or a customer who wants a person, goes to a staff member.
This trial works locally with fictitious data and does not count towards your lesson completion. It starts anew with a new lesson or reload.
A prompt to get you started
Help me set the limits for a fictional chatbot of an online garden furniture shop. Make two lists: questions the chatbot may answer itself based on our FAQ, and situations in which it always refers the customer to a staff member. Add a short opening line that makes clear that the customer is talking to an AI assistant.
Apply it
An online shop’s chatbot promised a customer free shipping on a return. The terms and conditions state that return shipping is charged.
Which approach best fits this situation?
- Leave it as it is; one customer with free shipping is no big deal.
- Have a staff member correct the promise, record that the chatbot does not promise any terms beyond the source, and add this case to the test set.
- Switch off the chatbot and have staff answer all questions again.
With JavaScript, you can check your approach and receive immediate feedback.
Test your insight
A customer writes to the chatbot that their table was delivered damaged and that they want compensation. What should the chatbot do?
- Offer 10% compensation itself to keep the customer happy.
- Refer the customer to a staff member and pass on the conversation, without promising anything.
- Ask the customer to come back later.
Extra practice
Choose ten questions your customer service often receives. Sort them: the chatbot answers, or a staff member takes over. If in doubt, note why.
Chatbot: opening hours, standard delivery time, how to return an order, teak care. Staff member: a complaint about a damaged delivery, a request for a refund, a customer who is angry or asks for a person. Opening line: “Hello, I am the shop’s digital assistant. You are talking to an AI system; type ‘staff member’ if you would rather speak to someone from our team.”
