AI: Increasing Ability to Emulate Human Performance

- Machine learning: allows machines to learn from past experiences and apply those learnings to new ones. For example, show a computer enough pictures of a cat and it will be able to identify a cat when shown one. From a practical perspective, machine learning can help predict and prevent network issues.

- Automation and robotics: provides the ability for a machine to automatically execute predefined tasks. This is particularly powerful when done in combination with machine learning.

- Analytics/trend analysis: machines have the ability to process large amounts of data, as well as spot trends and anomalies. For example, analytics can detect anomalies in usage patterns which could indicate a potential future issue.

- Natural language processing and vision: provides the ability to decipher human speech (oral and written), as well as to process visual objects. By understanding the customer’s intent, chatbots can provide useful suggestions, thereby avoiding escalations and improving customer satisfaction.

Powering Zero-touch, Self-healing Operations

In our industry, AI is already being used to drive more cost-efficient and higher quality operations. As the heartbeat of communications organizations, operations need to ensure that all services, from order-to-activation and network to billing, are provided seamlessly to the end-customer. For example, if a service provider launches a new service but operations lags behind, the customer experience will be poor. AI can remove the guesswork by resolving operations issues automatically, even before they occur.

Use cases include:

- Predictive alerts: using pattern recognition and anomaly detection techniques, AI can detect patterns of system data that indicate an imminent problem. This allows the operations to see into the future and identify trouble spots before they can escalate into issues. In addition, operations managers can be alerted so that proactive actions can be taken.

- Intelligent triage: once a problem has been detected (or predicted), the system can analyze it within the context of how it will affect customers, and project the business value of the impact. This allows the system to apply a priority level to the problem; ensuring issues that have the greatest customer and financial impact are handled first.

- Automated ticket resolution: since the system is constantly building its knowledge base of issues and determining the correct resolution path, over time, a growing number of issues will be able to be resolved automatically.

An Intelligent Outlook

Unlike the conclusion of Minority Report, where the pre-crime unit is dismantled, AI is here to stay. And as it becomes more integrated into operations and systems continually “learn” more uses cases, service providers will become increasingly accurate in predicting imminent issues. Ultimately, operations will move towards resolutions that are zero-touch and self-healing, with issues correctly identified and handled before they impact customers. Indeed, AI is a powerful game-changer whose ability for proactive prevention will ripple through the industry, setting the stage for service providers to take customer experience to the next level, lower their costs and improve efficiency.