Magellan Jets’ CEO, Joshua Hebert, Talks About Why It’s More Important Now than Ever to Read Contracts
In the original Blade Runner—set in 2019—technologists had already developed replicate humans and flying cars. Although I’m doubtful we’ll hit that mark in the near future, I’d venture we’re not too far off. Indeed, artificial intelligence (AI) has already become an everyday part of life for most humans. We use that at work and at home—often without even realizing. As we start 2018, I’d say there isn’t much artificial intelligence hasn’t touched. The big question now is: how much further will it go?
Humans simply can’t keep up with the speed at which technology—and customer demands—are moving. That’s why more and more businesses are moving toward harnessing the power of conversational AI chatbots and other virtual assistants to manage the day-to-day flow of work. It is estimated that some 85% of customer interactions will be managed by AI by 2020.
In the near term, we’ll likely see an increased focus on bot sensitivity training, which will allow humans to offload even more work on chatbot shoulders. And I’m not just talking about business. Amazon’s Alexa recently began syncing with Outlook and Google to help families keep up with their hectic schedules. Meanwhile, a new virtual assistant from X.ai called “Amy” can be trusted to respond to messages regarding meetings, meals, and calls without ever alerting the sender she’s a bot. We may not be ready for the Jetsons’ Rosie, but we’re getting closer.
Because the Magellan Jets model is purely private, we have to continue to understand how AI could affect our customers’ privacy. We have to spend a lot of time making sure our customers are protected. One of Magellan Jets’ primary safety concerns for our clients is that AI may try to access their data. We are protectors of that information on behalf of our clients. We don’t intend to replace the human element of customer service.
“The most valuable and effective use of AI is to augment a person’s natural abilities,” according to Josh Feast CEO and Cofounder of Cogito, an AI-based software company providing real-time guidance to enterprise contact centers. “AI is helping employees better sense a customer’s needs, providing them with insight to foster more productive conversations and deliver more personalized service.”
We would rather rely on the personal touch and be able to listen to the needs of our clients. AI will be a major player, but Magellan Jets will always be involved. And we are constantly learning how to better protect our employees and clients as AI increases its presence.
Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence, machine learning and algorithms today. These words are commonplace thanks to great organizations such as IBM, Google, Amazon, Apple and other major technology companies that are trying to gain more understanding about patterns and human behavior. As a whole, we are all looking to gain a more efficient and competitive advantage to maximize production and reduce costs to the consumer.
As we all work more and more with AI and begin to work alongside machines that are replacing monotonies of daily jobs, we are left with some choices in how we operate our businesses. Overall, AI is growing, and past the infancy stage; however, it is still very early on in its life cycle. At Magellan Jets we know that AI is an assistive tool and surrounds us every day, nudging us in our decision making. Our goal is to make sure that we do not take the human aspects out of the decisions that our clients make or what we do for our clients either. After all, machines are only as good as the past data they have available. For example, when our phone contract was recently being renewed, we had our legal counsel go through the contract to make sure we were not authorizing AI to access our phone conversations. We found that the contract did allow for AI to take data from our customers, so we had to take that out of the contract. We are actively working through our vendor contracts more than we ever have, and we require our legal counsel to sign off on everything.
The next big frontier for AI is the travel industry. There are several big players in the market looking to mine all the data they can find on you in order to predict when and where you will travel next. Expedia is now tracking which reviews you read, how reviews are written and their impact on your purchase. This means they are taking the data from every source they can find and leveraging it to benefit you. All of this is great for the average consumer, being shown the items that trend their way and leveraging the past to predict the future. However, what happens if you share an account and want to look for something different? What about customer service, exploring the best benefits for customers, and really putting the next experience ahead of the past experience?
AI and machine learning require data – and petabytes of it – to make sure that the algorithms are accurate. In a digital age in which our information is traveling across the U.S. and globe in a mere instant, Magellan Jets is focused on making sure that we are able to build relationships with our customers and treat them as family, because we want to make sure that our customers are a part of our family. Meeting customers face to face, partnering with customers on personal needs, and representing our customers’ interests are our priorities. Magellan Jets is more than a private jet company; we are an extension of travel in all aspects. This means making sure every experience is amazing, ensuring that you are not exploited for marketing, or data mining, you and your information are secure. Most companies realize data is the commodity of the present, and even more will in the future.
Magellan Jets has always been focused on our clients’ needs first and making the needs of each specific trip a priority. This is our personal advantage. What does this mean? Magellan Jets is dedicated to creating relationships that AI, machine learning and apps cannot create. Technologies such as chatbots, email bots, and other AI/machine learning tools are attempting to learn social engagement, but empathy, understanding and caring are very far out in the future for these tools. At Magellan Jets we know that it will be years until AI tools will be ready for use in a secure environment.
Due to the early stage at which AI and machine learning currently reside, there are some risks involving the amount of data, data sources, and vulnerability of these systems. The thought of a “security second” mindset makes us pause at implementing this technology. Being cognizant of potential security issues, Magellan Jets is working with partners to ensure that we protect your information. Magellan Jets is constantly seeking out the best technology and technology partners who acknowledge that AI is the future, while at the same time making sure that we don’t expose our clients’ information to partners who do not value security in the same fashion. The value that it brings currently is minimal in comparison to the risk that is constantly growing in this world.
This is a critical time for us to decide how machines, data, and AI will impact our lives. As the technology develops and becomes more secure, we will continue to explore uses for it. A core business value at Magellan Jets is to make sure is that our clients, no matter who they are, have the privacy that they need and desire when using our services. Magellan Jets is truly an all-inclusive travel solution that keeps private travel purely private.
References:
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2017/05/15/ai-by-the-numbers-33-facts-and-forecasts-about-chatbots-and-voice-assistants/#3ce0dd437731
- https://www.todayshotelier.com/2017/03/22/expedia-enhances-partner-knowledge-with-new-sentiment-analysis-tool/
