Gen AI: Balancing Trust and Customer Experience


Posted on by Anastasios Arampatzis

In the past two years, Generative AI (Gen AI) has become ubiquitous across all business sectors. While Gen AI's creative capabilities and apocalyptic potential have garnered many news headlines, most organizations focus on how the technology can streamline business processes and improve customer experience. However, the tool needs to be secured!

Consumers are reticent. Research recently revealed that 47% of consumers don't trust companies to use Gen AI responsibly. And perhaps with good reason: the world has witnessed several data privacy and AI scandals in the past few years.

The Risks of Gen AI

Organizations must accept that Gen AI presents risks to truly gain customer trust. Data privacy, bias, and accuracy concerns are inherent in Gen AI systems. And these are not merely hypothetical; in the last few years alone, we have seen the damage poorly managed by gen AI can do:

  • In 2024, an AI-powered airline chatbot provided a customer with false information.
  • In 2023, a prominent image generation technology showcased its inability to self-regulate, revealing a troubling tendency to create violent and disturbing images when prompted.
  • In late 2019, a widely used US healthcare risk algorithm was revealed to exhibit racial bias.

The fact is that all these stories made headlines. And years of sci-fi movies have left consumers ready to accept that AI is inherently evil. Each headline serves only to confirm that assumption: that's why 43% of consumers say they wouldn't trust any interactions powered by generative AI. 

The Customer Experience Benefits of Gen AI

But that's not to say that consumers are entirely against Gen AI: Thales’ Research revealed that 51% of consumers would be happy for companies to use the technology to improve their experiences.

There is enormous scope for organizations to use Gen AI to improve customer experiences. If nothing, Gen AI can make things more efficient. And efficiency is clearly what consumers want: the research also revealed that 22% of consumers will give up on a company within a minute if they're having a frustrating experience. If used appropriately, Gen AI can eradicate that frustration.

 For example, Gen AI chatbots can provide 24/7, tailored customer support. Granted, there are risks, but they are not insurmountable. These chatbots remove the need for customers to sit on hold for hours waiting for simple information or trawl through product forums when they have a query. Instead, they merely type their query and receive an immediate, bespoke response.

Gen AI can also help organizations predict consumer wants and needs, identify potential issues or dissatisfactions, and gauge customer sentiment so they can adjust their products and services accordingly. The technology can even make your services more accessible, providing real-time translations or assistive features such as alt-text for consumers with disabilities.

How to Use Gen AI Responsibly

It's crucial to use Gen AI responsibly to reap the consumer experience benefits while maintaining customer trust. That means taking a thoughtful, considered, and transparent approach to implementing Gen AI.

The first and most important step in responsible Gen AI implementation is developing an AI ethics policy and data privacy framework. Existing AI regulations and frameworks, such as the EU AI Act and the OECD AI Principles, are available, so complying with these will help.

Similarly, compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA will ensure you properly handle customer data. Consumers are generally willing to hand over data, but 89% will only do so if certain caveats are met. For example, you should practice data minimization, whereby you only collect necessary data, and informed consent, whereby customers know what data you're collecting and consent to it.

 It's also essential to prove to consumers that you take your cybersecurity posture seriously. Implementing and advertising a comprehensive cybersecurity program that includes tools and policies such as access control, data encryption, and data loss prevention will ensure customers are more willing to hand over their data to inform your Gen AI tools.

Similarly, you must regularly audit your Gen AI tools. Trusted auditors ensure your Gen AI system doesn't exhibit biases or inaccuracies. It's worth advertising that you've had your Gen AI tool audited to prove to customers that you're trustworthy. Alternatively, you could partner with a trusted, well-known, Gen AI provider.

Finally, as Nick Leighton, a Forbes Councils Member, said: “Your customers may or may not want to know exactly what products, services, and deliverables have benefited from using AI. A good way to build transparency is by clearly labelling anything that was wholly or partially created with the help of AI. This might not be necessary when AI use is obvious, like with a chatbot, but other more obscure AI uses may need to be disclosed.”

All in all, although consumers are slightly nervous about AI, they want the benefits it can bring. The corporate world is responsible for proving to consumers that they can have their cake and eat it, enjoying an enhanced customer experience without worrying whether they can trust their service providers to use Gen AI responsibly.


Contributors
Anastasios Arampatzis

Cybersecurity Writer, Bora

Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning compliance management data security zero trust privacy governance risk & compliance

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