Air India Elevates Customer Service with Cutting-Edge GenAI Features

Air India is betting on generative AI to improve customer experience. The Tata Group-owned airline is using ChatGPT, a large language model, to analyze customer queries and improve its understanding of natural language. This is helping Air India to develop more sophisticated features for its generative AI virtual agent, Maharaja.

Maharaja has been successfully deployed and has answered over half a million customer queries since its pilot launch in March 2023. It currently handles over 6,000 queries a day in four languages: Hindi, English, French, and German. Maharaja can answer a wide range of customer questions, including those related to flight status, baggage allowances, packing restrictions, check-in, frequent flyer awards, airport lounge access, flight changes, and refunds.

Over 80% of the customer queries received each day are successfully answered by Maharaja in seconds. About 15% of customer queries require additional assistance, and Maharaja can automatically recognize this and transfer the customer to a human agent at Air India's contact center.

Maharaja's Success and Multilingual Capabilities

Since its pilot launch in March 2023, 'Maharaja' has successfully addressed over half a million customer queries and currently manages 6,000 queries daily in four languages – Hindi, English, French, and German. The AI agent handles a wide spectrum of queries related to flight status, baggage allowances, check-in, and more, across 1,300 areas.

"Of the 6,000-plus questions received each day, over 80 per cent are successfully answered in seconds," notes Air India. Recognizing that 15% of queries require additional assistance, 'Maharaja' seamlessly orchestrates handoffs to Air India's contact center agents.

Upcoming Sophisticated Features:

In the next phases, Air India plans to introduce advanced features, leveraging patent-pending technologies. The airline aims to redefine the customer interaction experience with a blend of textual and graphical interactions. These innovations aim to further expedite customer interactions.

Data-Driven Deep Personalization:

Air India envisions enhancing its AI agent with data-driven deep-personalization capabilities, tailoring responses to individual preferences and needs. This initiative aligns with the evolving trend of guests preferring chat interactions for quick access to information and support.

Efficiency and Automation:

Generative AI solutions play a crucial role in automating routine tasks such as booking, cancellations, and confirmations. By automating these mundane tasks, Air India frees up human agents to focus on more intricate and value-adding interactions, optimizing overall operational efficiency.

Relevant and latest facts for the above news:

• Air India's generative AI virtual agent, Maharaja, is powered by Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service.

• Maharaja can answer a wide range of customer questions in four languages: Hindi, English, French, and German.

• Over 80% of the customer queries received each day are successfully answered by Maharaja in seconds.

• Maharaja is able to recognize when a customer query requires additional assistance and automatically transfers the customer to a human agent at Air India's contact center.

• Air India plans to launch a host of new features for Maharaja in the coming months, including a novel user experience that combines textual and graphical interactions, and data-driven deep-personalization capabilities.

• Air India is the world's first airline to have successfully deployed a Generative AI virtual agent.

In addition to the above, here are some other relevant and latest facts about generative AI in the airline industry:

• Generative AI is being used by airlines to develop more personalized customer experiences. For example, airlines are using generative AI to create personalized recommendations for flights, hotels, and activities, and to develop chatbots that can answer customer questions in a more natural and engaging way.

• Generative AI is also being used by airlines to improve operational efficiency. For example, airlines are using generative AI to automate tasks such as flight scheduling, crew planning, and revenue management.

• Generative AI is still a relatively new technology, but it has the potential to revolutionize the airline industry.

Benefits of using generative AI in the airline industry:

• Improved customer experience

• Increased operational efficiency

• Reduced costs

• New product and service development

• Enhanced safety and security

Overall, generative AI is a powerful technology that has the potential to transform the airline industry.