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- Should they deploy a AI chatbot now or wait?
- I believe they should wait. As someone who interned this Summer at a company who wants to be at the bleeding-edge of GenAI solutions, I can see clearly the pitfalls of Jeannie’s approach. Oftentimes, the GenAI software gets used is too early in its development, ultimately leading to more bugs than boons when the software is finally being produced. I understand that Jeannie wants to be ahead of the game in this field, utilising GenAI chatbots to reduce the workforce and cut costs, but if this initiative were to fail, it would have serious repercussions with regards to PulsePoint’s finances and their credibility among clients. Not to mention the impact it would have on employee retention, as there is a high probability the employees would leave PulsePoint if they felt that they were so easily replaced. Instead, I think Jeannie should closely follow any developments in the GenAI field, and once the software becomes more reliable and less hallucinatory, she should go all in on it. I also agree with Jim Lecinski that the GenAI chatbots appear to be a quick fix at a larger issue: increasing profit margins. Instead of taking a larger risk by implementing a new, untested software, Jeannie should focus on cutting costs and increasing profit margins in more traditional methods.
- What should they consider as they make that decision?
- There are a couple primary things that Jeannie and PulsePoint should consider before they move to implement a GenAI solution. The first one is the impact that bad or subpar software may have on their credibility among customers. We know that GenAI software is still early in its development, and as a result, it is prone to being erroneous and hallucinatory. If the chatbots were to give customers wrong advice, there is a chance that it would decrease the customer’s trust with PulsePoint—a primary selling point of PulsePoints’ various products. Another issue I can think of is the effect it would have on employees. I believe the introduction of AI software that could replace employees would cause a large rift in company-employee relations, and may have a deleterious effect on employee retention. The final facet I would consider if I were PulsePoint is how much they would be able to differentiate themselves from competitors if they began to use GenAI solutions. Oftentimes, GenAI solutions are built upon large foundational models that draw information from thousands of sources. Therefore, these GenAI solutions are often homogenous among different companies, and if other competitors bought the same software, PulsePoint would run the risk of responding/reacting to customer’s needs and concerns in a similar fashion to everything else, which in turn would decrease their reputability and ability to differentiate in a highly-competitive market space.
