Conversational AI, the brains behind intelligent virtual assistants

This article is based on the Ethical Innovations Presentation at the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit originally presented on 8 December 2021.

Nick Myers, CEO of RedFox AI, and Tina Ryan, podcast and events host, chat about chatbots and conversational AI, an ethical innovation for the people

Conversational AI (CAI) systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their ability to converse in a human-like manner. Today, it goes beyond simple responses provided by Alexa or Siri, as CAI systems navigate complex dialogue, understand nuanced intent, and articulate on-point responses.

Thanks to machine learning, CAI can learn and improve over time. Also, a tremendous amount of funding and talent has been devoted to developing language models for it in recent years, according to Forbes.

Conversation starter and game changer

Chatbots are widely used in almost every industry, but it’s intelligent virtual assistants that could take things a step further. Powered by CAI, virtual assistants would be developed with a set of capabilities, built to be integrated seamlessly into end-to-end processes.

Deloitte suggests that these assistants will play a significant role within the real estate ecosystem, especially since personal contact is no longer essential in many processes. Instead, service deck automation and CAI provide value-enhancing capabilities that customers need: 24/7 availability, fast response times, and a low error rate. What’s more, personalised agents will be equipped to perform relevant tasks. They will evolve and have additional capabilities, including making suggestions based on collected user insights.

To maximise the effectiveness of virtual assistants and digital service platforms, they must be integrated with as many elements of the real estate ecosystem as possible. Virtual assistants will also be more efficient if they have an in-depth understanding of all underlying real estate-specific workflows and tasks, as well as provide open interfaces for connectivity to systems like CRM/ticketing, ERP, individual databases, CRM/ ticketing, and to external service providers.

It is also crucial that virtual assistants are adaptable enough to stretch their scope or to integrate microservices.

Conversational AI in Asia Pacific

Data from Research Dive revealed that by 2028, the global conversational AI market is projected to generate USD13,291.3 million in revenue and grow at a CAGR of 21.4 percent.

Its market in the Asia Pacific region is expected to see the fastest growth during the forecast period, garnering USD3,022.4 million in revenue by 2028.

Several technologically advanced APAC countries, including China, India, Japan, and Singapore, will play a significant role in the rapid growth of the region.

Related: Siri tells it all: Becoming the voice of AI

From childhood dream to dream come true

Nick Myers, CEO of RedFox AI, recalled how the idea for the company came about.

When he was eight years old, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and experienced the struggle of having to complete home tests without accurate and reliable healthcare information.

Many years later, after using Amazon Alexa, he was struck by the idea of building a conversational AI-powered voice assistant that would help patients who are struggling with administering home health tests — like how his parents struggled all those years ago.

Today, the company has developed a human-centric CAI that can guide users and troubleshoot issues in real-time.

Serving patients and homebuyers

Nick clarified that while V Lab is specifically designed to facilitate at-home medical testing, it is now possible to configure the platform to serve any industry.

He also pointed out that the service is completely web-based. There are no hardware and app required, which means that — compared to Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri — V Lab is the most accessible voice assistant in the market.

“It can learn from every interaction, track a wide variety of data points, and collect user insights like semantic data that, currently, not many organisations are able to collect and analyse,” stated Nick. He added that with V Lab, there would be no need to touch, scroll, or swipe through pages, as it can easily navigate websites as well.

Is it sustainable technology? Absolutely. Or as Nick puts it, “It is a crucial part of digital transformation and migration automation in that it removes outdated manual labour and allows users to manage every facet of real estate, from scheduling showings and processing paperwork to helping buyers research and purchase a property without ever having to interact with a human being. It can do all that whilst ensuring accuracy and reducing costly mistakes.”

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