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The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

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Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#111

Post by dghlsakjg »

stickfigure wrote: post #98
flax wrote: post #11

I'm probably in the minority, but I do not want a "connection" with a business. I want transactional interactions that actually work. That is something that AI is not giving us today. By design. Companies are not switching to AI customer service because it's better or cheaper for the same service. They are choosing to replace customer service with AI chat bots that simulate the customer service experience without act…

I invite you to watch this entertaining FortNine video about buying a motorcycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbr3JZAXDxA "How to Rip Off the Dealership - Bastard Negotiating Tactics" Without giving too much away, I liked this approach so much that when I bought my last motorcycle, I found a Kenco-equivalent in the Bay Area. It was a fantastic buying experience and I'm so glad I did. High dollar purchases are str…

Plus, if you buy a bike from a place like that, and something goes wrong, you are almost guaranteed to have it made right without having to fight about it like at a big dealer.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#112

Post by stephenhuey »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #74
jay_kyburz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the first story in the article sounds gross and creepy to me "The team became mini-concierges. Every guest walked in to find someone who knew them — not in a creepy, surveillance-state way, but in the way a good friend remembers what you’re going through." I'm not going through anything. I just want some dinner. And to be clear, the only reason they are doing this is strictly transactional. Good friends don't as…

I thought of an example of how this should work. My parents used to go to the same restaurant every Friday night, for many many years. A little chit chat at the register each visit, it doesn't take long before you actually enjoy seeing that person. I began to suspect they continued going just so they had an excuse to see their friends. You can't engineer these relationships, but you can encourage your staff to be ope…

I also had an older relative who took me to a nice restaurant several years ago. He had gone to that same restaurant since the 1970s and even though it had changed names over the years, he usually asked for the same waiter, an older man who had worked there for decades. They had chatted about their kids and other things in life. Maybe they weren't the most intimate of friends, but I've felt this same desire in some coffee shops and restaurants, where I want to talk to the same employee again and catch up on at least a couple of things we've discussed before. Maybe we don't do that with every business transaction, but it's nice to experience every now and then.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#113

Post by dghlsakjg »

pixl97 wrote: post #53
Eridrus wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, I talk to the Doordash bot, it gives me a refund for the failed delivery because it didn't score me as doing fraud, I don't care there was no human involved. It's certainly an upgrade over the menu-driven approach that has no room for deviation.

Yea, on the same note I've had to call the cable company for internet outages a few times recently and the AI system handled the situation well. A few times it was neighborhood outages that it saw. One other time the system reset the modem configuration and the system came up, and one time it saw the interface on the modem was receiving errors and switched me over to a human to send a truck. It really was much better…

The real issue is that you have to contact them at all.

It's been at least 5 years since I last got in contact with my ISP/cable provider. It took a few minutes for them to reply to my email (15 minutes on new years eve after hours) because a real human always replies. They can provide good service because the product is good enough to not need a call centre's worth of employees to deal with a queue of angry customers.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#114

Post by dghlsakjg »

what wrote: post #99
greenie_beans wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i love connecting with a bookseller at a local independent bookstore. or a bartender. or a server. etc. such a more interesting life if you connect with people at the businesses in your community

> bartender, server You’re not connecting with them. They put on a smile and listen to you hoping for a tip.

My wife is a bookseller. She doesn't get tips. She genuinely likes her customers... most of them anyways. Wouldn't like someone that thinks she's only doing it for money since she gets paid whether she's nice or not, but she would still be nice to them.

Maybe some people really do take pride in their work. Worth trying sometime maybe?

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#115

Post by stephenhuey »

fnord77 wrote: post #108
thadt wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do not want a "connection" with a business. That's because we don't make connections with businesses - we make connections with people. That one nice hair dresser. The pharmacist that goes out of her way to make sure my mom's medicines are right. A cashier that's just pleasant to talk with. Years ago I did most of my grocery shopping at Target. I cared almost nothing about Target the chain. Or Target the super st…

this is the only worthwhile comment in this thread

We must turn back the tide on American microwave culture. Life isn't just about my time, my money...we share life with others, and life is so much better because of it.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#116

Post by ElProlactin »

The internet, social media and AI has contributed to a society in which large numbers of people not only don't want a dialog, they feel uncomfortable with and try to avoid "unnecessary" human interaction.

As for the Apple Store, the one time I went into one, it was one of the weirdest, least pleasant retail experiences I had. It was chaos. One person was trying to help like 4 groups at a time and several people in the payment line were complaining about how long it was taking.

I feel like the author here has a point but maybe it's not as relevant to the modern retail world as he thinks.

The things I value most in any interaction with a business are competence, professionalism and value. If the people are polite/nice, that's great, but polite/nice doesn't help if the rest of the service sucks.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#117

Post by annzabelle »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #74
jay_kyburz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the first story in the article sounds gross and creepy to me "The team became mini-concierges. Every guest walked in to find someone who knew them — not in a creepy, surveillance-state way, but in the way a good friend remembers what you’re going through." I'm not going through anything. I just want some dinner. And to be clear, the only reason they are doing this is strictly transactional. Good friends don't as…

I thought of an example of how this should work. My parents used to go to the same restaurant every Friday night, for many many years. A little chit chat at the register each visit, it doesn't take long before you actually enjoy seeing that person. I began to suspect they continued going just so they had an excuse to see their friends. You can't engineer these relationships, but you can encourage your staff to be ope…

My parents go to a kitbar (wine bar with open kitchen and waiters/bartenders who cook) every Wednesday night and have for a decade. They know the staff and have friendly chats with most of the people who work that shift, and it's a nice break in the week for them to get to chat with some young people who aren't their descendants. I come along when I'm in town, and everybody seems happy and cheerful. People work that kind of job, as opposed to, say, data center technician (a big career in that area) because they don't mind making connections with strangers.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#118

Post by marcus_holmes »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #74
jay_kyburz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the first story in the article sounds gross and creepy to me "The team became mini-concierges. Every guest walked in to find someone who knew them — not in a creepy, surveillance-state way, but in the way a good friend remembers what you’re going through." I'm not going through anything. I just want some dinner. And to be clear, the only reason they are doing this is strictly transactional. Good friends don't as…

I thought of an example of how this should work. My parents used to go to the same restaurant every Friday night, for many many years. A little chit chat at the register each visit, it doesn't take long before you actually enjoy seeing that person. I began to suspect they continued going just so they had an excuse to see their friends. You can't engineer these relationships, but you can encourage your staff to be ope…

We used to have a holiday home in Cornwall when I was young. My father used to have a pint or two at the local pub most evenings when we were there, and we were there 3-4 weeks every year. Eventually we sold the house and stopped going.

My father happened to go back there about 15 years later, randomly on a road trip through Cornwall and thought he'd stop in for a pint for old times' sake. On walking through the door, the barman said "hello Simon, good to see you again, pint of the usual?".

I wonder how many people call in to have a pint at the pub purely because of that barman. I wonder if that pub has survived the cull of British pubs purely because of that barman.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#119

Post by annzabelle »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #110
bko wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've never had them making a connection for my benefit (i.e. take a hit to their bottom line). I have. Go to a car place, build a rapport and the guy will likely apply discounts to your order. Go to the same place, make sure they know you and they'll give you discounts or extras because they know you're a repeat customer. Many retail workers have some discretion. They're the front line workers. If you tell a manage…

I feel bad for all the people in this thread that apparently have never had a business do something nice for them for the sake of doing something nice. I've had waiters throw in dessert because we had a good chat, store attendants give me free stuff because I mentioned a problem I had, even big chain employees will go above and beyond just because. All of this with no expectation of reciprocity. Really, I have concre…

I have to wonder if there's something regional to this.

I used to live in a walkable neighborhood in a southern city, and I had several workers and owners at the businesses on my block who were chatty and we got along well. I tipped a dollar for my coffee every time at a local cafe, and the baristas would give me free coffees or ring up my coffee as a refill. The staff and several customers would often get into chats and I made a few friends just from going to that cafe in the afternoons a few weekdays a week.

Re: The Competitive Moat That AI Can't Replicate

#120

Post by drob518 »

computerphage wrote: post #83
drob518 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oops… gotta say that I agree with the general message of the article, though.

Why do you agree?

Because I think that a world that is increasingly isolated by technology and divided by ideology is craving authentic personal interaction with real humans. And I think that’s something AI will not be able to duplicate because it requires real human beings.
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