Officials with MetroLink Tulsa said they're making headway on a program utilizing artificial intelligence to answer customer calls.
Riders have been greeted with an AI call center when booking microtransit, a service that provides direct rides, and paratransit, a system meant for disabled people. The call center is operated by RideCo, the same company providing the smartphone app to book such vehicles.
MetroLink Tulsa was the first in the country to use RideCo's AI call centers, which have since expanded to other transit authorities.
"When you call in, you're with an AI person," said MetroLink General Manager Scott Marr. "You can opt out. Some people choose to opt out right away because a lot of people just don't like dealing with AI, but our AIs learn so much."
Marr said the addition of AI call centers is a long-term cost-saving measure, but the transit provider has yet to see that benefit this early on. He said while the bot receptionists aren't perfect, they're improving rapidly.
"Is it where we want it to be? No, it's not, because when AI starts, it's still learning. It's always learning. Some of those calls are longer than it would be with a human being."
Marr said the goal is to have those AI calls to be shorter than human calls by the middle of next year.
AI has been rapidly added to many call centers across the world, with positive and negative effects. Some call center employees say it makes certain tasks easier, but that others are still best left to humans.
