I met my future BDC agent

[Greg]

as I mentioned to Alex: FYI - Abby is not 'keyword' based, but rather grammatically based - since she breaks apart each sentence into subject, noun, verb, and adjective – in order to capture the true meaning and references required for normal conversation. It's actually the same philosophy that is being used for 'google on the phone' and for the latest 'voice search technology' that is being put into beta this week for searching the web. Both methods are consistent with Abby's because all came out of CMU within the last 5 years.

 

[Ashley Antonio]

From what I have heard from customers and staff, Abby is a real time saver. She is able to give customers relevant information such as price quotes immediately and in the event that someone needs to be transferred to a rep there is a press 1 connect option.

 

[Internet Jeff]

Do they have an Abby we could program as a girlfriend?

 

[Internet Jeff]

As well for ladies, excuse me.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

There ya go Jeff - if she ever talks back, just reprogram her. No need to ever lose another argument again! The ladies could program it to say intelligent things....I think world peace may be near.

Greg - thanks for joining in on the conversation and shedding a little light on Abby's programming. I think the people reading this thread will be interested in the "off-the-shelf" products Abby will be able to provide down the road - care to mention what some of those capabilities will be?

Ashley - thank you for your time the other day. You helped to reaffirm some of my thoughts and it was a pleasure speaking to someone who is on her game!

 

[Ashley Antonio]

It was great speaking to you too, Alex. I'd love to meet you on your next visit to NYC. I am off to Digital Dealer/AAISP thing in Vegas. I'll keep everyone posted on anything interesting that may come up. Not sure if it will be anything groundbreaking, but I'll probably have some good US Weekly style gossip to share.

 

[esietsma]

This is so fascinating! I am dying to hear example of ABBY handling calls. I went to both websites (Get ABBY and the Alice site) and tried interacting with the avatars and I wasn't impressed. They were way off base in about 3 lines, but I guess handling a phone up wouldn't be too chatty and more standardized.

The Alice site is super budget and I don't understand it at all. It's nothing about Alice handling calls, it's more about Alice being an avatar on your site. But, she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed even if she is an award winner. The other avatars on the site were uber freaky. I think one of them is anorexic. Avatars in general freak me out though. They are so ugly and I can't get over the mouth being out of sync.

I am not totally ruling out dating one, as long as its mouth didn't move. Actually, that's how I feel about most guys come to think about it!

 

[Greg]

My first ‘comment’ addresses a number of the products currently ‘off the shelf.’ Now, what products will be off the shelf in the future? Wow, great question. The interesting thing about Abby is that she gains intelligence by interacting with people. So within a couple years she will be able to answer nearly all of the ‘common’ questions people ask when purchasing a vehicle, for example; and within a couple years she will be able to answer tons of questions concerning medicine – since Abby is currently entrenched in the automobile and pharmaceutical industries. So a very ‘near future’ off the shelf Abby product would be something like ‘Automotive Abby’ - who is essentially a genius when it comes to vehicles, dealership operations, & prospective car buyers.

 

[Greg]

i was thinking about this on the drive home actually - in fact, in the near future off the shelf would probably be more like 'Audi Abby' who would be able to answer everything Audi, but may not know what a 'Toyota' is... and 'Automotive Abby' would probably be something custom, where Abby would be able to compare vehicles for the consumer, and explain differences between OEM's engines, for example - which is what the Checkered Flag's of the world would be interested in... right Alex?

 

[esietsma]

Oooohhh....that would be amazing! Heck - we can barely get REAL LIVE salespeople to understand their competitive comparisons. I think I love future Automotive Abby. Also, think if Abby could educate consumers on the major services their car needs, what it entails and why it is important...another win. Then, perhaps Abby could help us interview candidates for Job Positions - I saw that the ALICE site has a "personality" tester: "CLAUDIO." So many possibilities.