Chatbots Can Make as Many Sales as Humans
Chatbots can match the performance of proficient human salespeople—or outperform inexperienced ones fourfold—but only when customers are unaware they are conversing with artificial intelligence.
We are drowning in numbers, and we no longer understand what they mean. Every day, headlines bombard us with figures meant to inform: billions in spending, trillions in debt, percentages signaling growth or decline. But for most of us, these numbers blur together. They register as “large” or “small,” but almost never as real. And that is more than a math problem. It is a civic one.
INFORMS has awarded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) its 2026 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research and Management Science, for reengineering how global cloud infrastructure is planned and delivered, applying advanced analytics and AI to orchestrate complex fulfillment decisions across its rapidly expanding data center network.
In the rush to adopt artificial intelligence, many employers are now requiring that employees use AI tools. As you’re using AI, be intentional and selective. It’s critical that you know yourself. Research published in Management Science found that AI is most valuable for people who understand their own abilities and limitations. Assess yourself, so you can factor this into your process for incorporating AI into your work.
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Chatbots can match the performance of proficient human salespeople—or outperform inexperienced ones fourfold—but only when customers are unaware they are conversing with artificial intelligence.
Could you handle scrutiny of your driving habits in return for a price break on your insurance? That’s the bargain participants in usage-based (or telematics-based) insurance programs are making. In return for driving well and logging low miles, you could save as much as 50 percent off premiums.
AI is proving itself superior to human intelligence in an expanding number of fields. That is, except when people know AI is being used.
New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research looks at gamer behavior and how to match their engagement level with different games to ensure they play more often and for longer periods of time.
CATONSVILLE, MD, September 25, 2019 – In the video game industry, the ability for gaming companies to track and respond to gamers’ post-purchase play opens up new opportunities to enhance gamer engagement and retention and increase video game revenue.

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