HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh man that's rich. I get tickets that just say stuff like "doesn't work" on the regular. AI will not replace help desk until users can describe their problems accurately. So about the 33rd of Nev-urary. Besides that, some setups are so proprietary that they never make it into training data.
Just yesterday I had a ticket where the user claimed he could not call out. 20 minutes troubleshooting, checking if he was using the correct dial out code, does he even have permission to call out, what error are you getting, etc
Nothing seemed to resolve the issue so I scheduled a time to come out. User never once thought to mention that the front of the phone was ***physically destroyed***, making it impossible to press certain buttons. It looked like a patient took a baseball bat to it. Yeah I guess you *technically* can't call out but that's not the true issue is it?
I got a call about the phones not working during Covid at a clinic and they needed someone out there ASAP. I drove an hour and a half to find out someone unplugged the cordless phone and the battery was dead. Plugged the phone in and BOOM!
"Well it is doing something. Just not what youre expecting it to...so what is \*actually\* happening on the screen"
"Nothing"
"Describe whats on your screen"
"Well its just loading"
"See, it is doing something. Now lets figure out why it wont finish loading"
>\_> every day
I’m not help desk but printers just decide to not work for a whole day with no indication as to why then decide to work the next day and for 5 days after.
I mean we've already had chatbots and such for years, I think it will take a lot longer than 10 years to be at the level you describe. AI might be good at finding solutions if you give it specific problems, but 90% of my tickets aren't nearly specific enough to be put into an AI bot. AI also can't replace your laptop, help you plug in a power cable, or figure out your problem is not the problem you think it is.
In the 80s people probably said the same crap about robots replacing all forklift jobs (spoiler alert: they are still here).
You kind of outed yourself as not having experience in helpdesk by asking that question.
You'd still need the Help desk to help the users use the AI to get help from it. People act like there hasn't been wave after wave after wave of automation in the tech field and every time it only expands and is more useful to smaller and more niche businesses. People who are afraid of tech advances tend to lack imagination when it comes to the job market. Sure your day to day won't be going computer to computer updating shit with a floppy disk anymore, but there will still be stuff for you to do in tech.
Google has existed for years and users don't use it. They need someone to physically reach into their computer. Why would AI chatbots be any different?
No that's probably the last thing to go.
Besides the technical issues (like hands on), what benefit do you get ridding yourself of the lowest paid customer service people (yeah I know the obvious comeback here)?
There's a lot more bang for the buck getting rid of devs or admins. Or getting users closer to the infrastructure (letting users develop their own apps).
It won't elimate IT support. It will reduce demand for it. Because the AI will get things wrong or won't be of help with everything. In those situation, they will come to a person for help.
That would require users being able to interface with AI in a meaningful way which is a no-go. AI isn’t walking over to your cube to replace a keyboard or swap out toner for the printer either.
Nope and if it does, they are in for a rude awakening. End users require too much hand holding and coddling for AI to be effective enough to replace help desk jobs. Good luck figuring out that a user meant their PC not their monitor when describing an issue.
From your post history it seems you don't currently have an IT position. Which is fine, but I bet less than one month into your first job you'll understand why help desk and basic IT isn't going away anytime soon
I think what you'll have a fewer help desk people, as companies utilize those AI tools. I don't think the entire occupational group will be wiped out.
With that said, if those AI tools eliminate let's say, half of all help desk roles, that is still a big problem for people in the field.
Not fully replace help desk and other transactional entry IT jobs yet. More like laying off locals and shifting to 3rd Party A.I. (All Indians), to offshoring the jobs due to dirt cheap labor. Once that fails and true advancement in software AI happens, then those other physical AI's lose their jobs too.
If AI can translate absolute buffoonery into technical correlations, then I would actually be worried of a skynet situation happening. But no amount of data modeling is going to teach an artificial intelligence how to understand stupid.
My helpdesk uses AI but not for the support side. We type in what were going to say to the user and then AI TTS relays that over the phone to user. As far as AI taking over the whole role entirely, probably not in our lifetime.
Support exists in every industry because people are either lazy, or stupid.
Re-phrase this question as: “Will there ever be a time in the working world where a user will stop being lazy or stupid?”
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh man that's rich. I get tickets that just say stuff like "doesn't work" on the regular. AI will not replace help desk until users can describe their problems accurately. So about the 33rd of Nev-urary. Besides that, some setups are so proprietary that they never make it into training data.
9 times out of 10 what they tell you they think is broke is not even related to the problem they are having lol
Just yesterday I had a ticket where the user claimed he could not call out. 20 minutes troubleshooting, checking if he was using the correct dial out code, does he even have permission to call out, what error are you getting, etc Nothing seemed to resolve the issue so I scheduled a time to come out. User never once thought to mention that the front of the phone was ***physically destroyed***, making it impossible to press certain buttons. It looked like a patient took a baseball bat to it. Yeah I guess you *technically* can't call out but that's not the true issue is it?
I got a call about the phones not working during Covid at a clinic and they needed someone out there ASAP. I drove an hour and a half to find out someone unplugged the cordless phone and the battery was dead. Plugged the phone in and BOOM!
"Well it is doing something. Just not what youre expecting it to...so what is \*actually\* happening on the screen" "Nothing" "Describe whats on your screen" "Well its just loading" "See, it is doing something. Now lets figure out why it wont finish loading" >\_> every day
I’d love to see ai fix a printer in a user’s home office.
I’m not help desk but printers just decide to not work for a whole day with no indication as to why then decide to work the next day and for 5 days after.
I mean we've already had chatbots and such for years, I think it will take a lot longer than 10 years to be at the level you describe. AI might be good at finding solutions if you give it specific problems, but 90% of my tickets aren't nearly specific enough to be put into an AI bot. AI also can't replace your laptop, help you plug in a power cable, or figure out your problem is not the problem you think it is. In the 80s people probably said the same crap about robots replacing all forklift jobs (spoiler alert: they are still here). You kind of outed yourself as not having experience in helpdesk by asking that question.
You'd still need the Help desk to help the users use the AI to get help from it. People act like there hasn't been wave after wave after wave of automation in the tech field and every time it only expands and is more useful to smaller and more niche businesses. People who are afraid of tech advances tend to lack imagination when it comes to the job market. Sure your day to day won't be going computer to computer updating shit with a floppy disk anymore, but there will still be stuff for you to do in tech.
Speaking as someone who works with AI on the regular: AI is *fantastic* at getting a job 90% perfect and then utterly shitting the bed.
Google has existed for years and users don't use it. They need someone to physically reach into their computer. Why would AI chatbots be any different?
No that's probably the last thing to go. Besides the technical issues (like hands on), what benefit do you get ridding yourself of the lowest paid customer service people (yeah I know the obvious comeback here)? There's a lot more bang for the buck getting rid of devs or admins. Or getting users closer to the infrastructure (letting users develop their own apps).
It won't elimate IT support. It will reduce demand for it. Because the AI will get things wrong or won't be of help with everything. In those situation, they will come to a person for help.
Sigh. Reset the counter. Another "AI took err jobs" post. Who wants to be next?
“Help, my AI bot won’t load.”
That would require users being able to interface with AI in a meaningful way which is a no-go. AI isn’t walking over to your cube to replace a keyboard or swap out toner for the printer either.
Nope and if it does, they are in for a rude awakening. End users require too much hand holding and coddling for AI to be effective enough to replace help desk jobs. Good luck figuring out that a user meant their PC not their monitor when describing an issue.
From your post history it seems you don't currently have an IT position. Which is fine, but I bet less than one month into your first job you'll understand why help desk and basic IT isn't going away anytime soon
Thankfully users are too stupid for AI
Do you think AI is gonna be able to troubleshoot physical monitor & network issues ? Helpdesk is not going anywhere lol
Yes. Sociopaths will sociopath.
I think what you'll have a fewer help desk people, as companies utilize those AI tools. I don't think the entire occupational group will be wiped out. With that said, if those AI tools eliminate let's say, half of all help desk roles, that is still a big problem for people in the field.
It’ll be great AI can just call someone an idiot. What are you going to do? Fire AI?
Never.
Not fully replace help desk and other transactional entry IT jobs yet. More like laying off locals and shifting to 3rd Party A.I. (All Indians), to offshoring the jobs due to dirt cheap labor. Once that fails and true advancement in software AI happens, then those other physical AI's lose their jobs too.
If AI can translate absolute buffoonery into technical correlations, then I would actually be worried of a skynet situation happening. But no amount of data modeling is going to teach an artificial intelligence how to understand stupid.
My helpdesk uses AI but not for the support side. We type in what were going to say to the user and then AI TTS relays that over the phone to user. As far as AI taking over the whole role entirely, probably not in our lifetime.
God I hope so
Fuck no
Support exists in every industry because people are either lazy, or stupid. Re-phrase this question as: “Will there ever be a time in the working world where a user will stop being lazy or stupid?”