Artificial intelligence helps increase productivity and efficiency of workers

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University in the US conducted an extensive study to assess the impact of AI on work productivity and employee experience in the customer service industry.

Specifically, they focused on analyzing the implementation of a new AI chat assistant system at a Fortune 500 company that provides business process support software.

In this study, more than 5,000 customer support agents used AI technology to handle customer requests. Researchers tracked changes in employee performance, satisfaction, and the impact of AI on the quality of service they provided.

Research shows that, with the help of AI assistants, the number of conversations an average skilled worker can successfully handle per working hour has increased significantly, reaching an increase of about 15%.

This means that AI helps employees respond to customers faster, resolve problems more effectively, and thus improve the overall productivity of the support team. However, the impact of AI is not uniform across all employees.

According to the research, less experienced or low-skilled employees benefit the most from the technology, thanks to the instant support from AI in providing appropriate answers and guidance on how to handle situations.

In contrast, for experienced employees, the impact of AI is less pronounced, as they already have problem-solving skills and the ability to handle conversations proficiently.

This shows that AI can act as a powerful support tool, especially useful in training and improving performance for new or less experienced employees.

The results showed that employees with less skills and experience saw significant improvements in all aspects of productivity, with the number of issues resolved per hour increasing by up to 30%. This shows that the AI ​​assistant not only helped them process work faster but also improved overall efficiency in the customer support process.

Notably, AI assistants bring clear benefits not only to new employees, but also to employees with 6 months of experience or more.

The technology acts as a dedicated coach, helping less experienced employees access and adopt more efficient working methods, while providing flexible support even for those who are already familiar with the job, helping them optimize their situational handling processes more quickly and accurately.

These important findings, detailed in a new study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published by Oxford University Press, not only highlight the impact of AI on productivity but also show that the technology can serve as an effective learning aid.

In particular, AI assistants help employees, especially international workers, improve their English communication skills, enhance fluency in speech and expression.

By regularly interacting with AI, employees have the opportunity to practice language in a real-world environment, helping them become more confident in communicating with customers and improve their language skills naturally over time.

“Call center work is challenging, with employees often facing stressful, even hostile interactions with frustrated, anonymous customers,” the researchers noted. However, they stressed that AI assistance has “significantly” improved how customers treat call center agents.

According to research, when AI is involved, customers are less likely to doubt the competence of employees and also significantly reduce the number of times they request to speak directly with a supervisor. This not only helps reduce psychological pressure on employees but also contributes to creating a more positive and professional working environment.