AI, Humor and Engaging in Likeable Dialogue

It's not surprising that companies are searching for ways to use Artificial Intelligence. At Farland Group, we hear from clients who are using AI within their own organizations — whether to cut down on manual tasks for employees or to create a better customer experience. We are seeing the use of AI on a consumer level too, so it makes sense that the people behind these capabilities are looking for ways to humanize them.

In the article “The Daunting Task of Making AI Funny,” creative director and writer Sarah Wulfeck says, “Humans in the flesh world don’t enjoy conversations with dry boring people, so why would we want that from our artificial intelligence?” She has a point. I know I would much rather engage in an interesting, funny conversation with someone as opposed to a lackluster, uninspiring discussion.

This article makes another good point though — “funny” doesn’t come easy, thus where some of the work between humor and AI is happening. This got me thinking about the type of work we do with our clients. Like programming a “Chatbot” or AI machine to be “funny” to keep the user engaged, we too continuously and consistently come up with ways to keep our clients engaged.

Similar to teams that are programming a “bot” to be engaged, at Farland Group we stay abreast of new technologies and industry news. In turn, we are more involved during client conversations — whether we are the ones listening or the ones doing the talking.The article has led me to evaluate ways I can make a conversation more engaging — not just for humor, but for the purposes of creating a more enjoyable dialogue and positive client experience.