Of all technologies that impact customer experience (CX), few have as immediate or obvious an effect as artificial intelligence (AI).

AI is a natural fit for customer-facing applications because it encourages a more conversational approach to interactions and is easy for customers to use. Just about everybody reading this has encountered some form of AI, usually in the form of chatbots, speech recognition, or recommendation engines. However, most have encountered more subtle forms of AI such as contact center call and ticket routing, image processing, and analytical tools used by businesses as well.

The market for AI applications is young and growing fast. Current market size estimates range from $10–15 billion, with the market expected to grow to over $100 billion by 2025. It's estimated that AI has created $2–3 trillion in value to date. Clearly, somebody-many somebodies-thinks this technology is a good idea, but why?