🤖 Klarna's new AI assistant does the same job as 700 people, after one month

• The AI assistant has handled 2.3 million conversations, equivalent to two-thirds of all customer service chats, in its first month.
• Customers now resolve their issues in less than 2 minutes, an improvement of 82 percent compared to before.
• The assistant is available 24/7 in 23 countries and in over 35 languages, improving communication with customers worldwide.

A new era for customer service

Using OpenAI technology, Klarna has created an assistant that not only handles the overwhelming majority of customer service chats but also delivers results equivalent to the work of 700 full-time employees. The results from the first month show clear improvements in customer satisfaction and efficiency:

Faster case handling: Previously, it took an average of 11 minutes for a customer to resolve a case, but with the AI assistant, this time is reduced to under 2 minutes. This represents an 82 percent improvement, which not only saves time for the customer but also increases their satisfaction with Klarna's services.

Fewer recurring inquiries: With more accurate case handling, the number of recurring inquiries has decreased by 25 percent, indicating higher resolution efficiency on first contact.

Economic gain: The streamlining and improvement of the customer service process are expected to lead to a profit improvement of $40 million (approximately 400 million SEK) for Klarna in 2024. 24/7 service: The assistant is available around the clock in 23 countries.

Multilingual support: With support for more than 35 languages, including Arabic and French, Klarna has managed to improve communication with local immigrant and expat communities, further strengthening the company's global presence.

In addition to handling standard cases, Klarna's AI assistant functions as a personal financial advisor, offering real-time updates on balances and payments, and helps customers understand and manage their finances better.

But now people are losing their jobs, how can this be optimistic?

For those who are losing their jobs, there is, of course, nothing positive about this news. Changes often hurt some, but the alternative would be worse and affect everyone. Since the industrial revolution, machines have taken jobs from humans. However, ongoing development has created new, better jobs, and society's wealth has increased dramatically. This has allowed us to create a welfare system that helps people who lose their jobs with support and training while they find new work.

A bit into the industrial revolution when better machines replaced workers, unemployment was a terrible fate. Then, there was yet no safety net. But now we have it, and moreover, generative AI creates opportunities for many of those who lose their jobs. If they learn AI (which is easy), a multitude of opportunities will open up for them. (That said, just when one loses their job, perhaps nothing comforts, but their future does not have to be bleak.)

If we had halted such development somewhere in the 1700s, almost all of us would have worked as farmers, lived short and hard lives, and half of our children would have died before reaching the age of five. If we continue development, we will all be able to live better lives.

Doing things better and faster saves resources for other things. Imagine if, by a magic stroke, we could implement a similar efficiency in the public sector. How many billions would suddenly be freed up for more teachers, nurses, lower taxes (depending on where your political priorities lie.)

Klarna is an example of when a company becomes centaurs. When someone truly embraces the new. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski made sure Klarna got access to the latest version of ChatGPT (GPT-4) before it was released to the public. He has pushed hard for all employees to use generative AI in their work. It pays off now.

Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist

WALL-Y
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