Teleperformance shares have hit a seven-year low after plummeting by 29 percent last week.
Although it has since recovered somewhat, the stock was still 16.5 percent down when the French Stock Exchange ceased trading yesterday.
Some have attributed the sudden drop to Klarna’s announcement that its AI assistant was handling two-thirds of customer service chats and completing the work of 700 employees.
The Swedish fintech’s claims have strengthened existing fears that AI will replace human agents in the customer services space.
In response to the sudden drop, Teleperformance – the largest employer of contact center advisors globally – released a statement rubbishing AI concerns:
(Our) current activity in no way reflects negative conclusions in its business that could be drawn from technological developments mentioned in this communication.
The French communications provider also emphasized that it is already embracing AI in several of its offerings.
For instance, last year, the company announced that due to the popularity of chatbots, up to 30 percent of its call volume could be automated within three years.
The Klarna Effect
Klarna’s self-reported AI successes follow the news that the financial service company has teamed up with OpenAI to develop its inaugural virtual assistant.
One month in, as well as the workload output mentioned above, Klarna has also announced that its virtual assistant has helped bring about a significant reduction in query resolution time from 11 minutes to just two minutes while maintaining consistent levels of customer satisfaction.
Altogether, Klarna anticipates that the AI innovation will contribute to a $40 million USD profit improvement for the company in 2024, with Co-Founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski enthusiastic about the potential of the new tool:
This AI breakthrough in customer interaction means superior experiences for our customers at better prices, more interesting challenges for our employees, and better returns for our investors.
However, some have questioned the capabilities of Klarna’s virtual assistant.