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Give AI copilots to your newest reps first, and be careful with your stars

Oct 8
3 min read
Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1831
The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Katsushika Hokusai (c. 1831). The same wave that lifts some boats swamps others.

An AI copilot made weak reps much better and the best reps slightly worse.


The study. Alibaba randomly gave 2,895 of 5,940 newer customer-service agents an AI assistant that drafted a diagnosis and a proposed solution at the start of each chat. Over four weeks in early 2024 the agents handled about 2.56 million chats.


The finding. On average the AI helped a little: agents identified issues 8.2% faster and ratings ticked up. Underneath, the effect split. Agents in the bottom fifth by prior ratings gained 0.81 points on a five-point scale. Agents in the top fifth lost 0.28 points, and their customers came back with the same problem more often.

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