Air New Zealand's chatterbot Oscar turns one
Oscar was first introduced a year ago on the airline’s website to answer commonly asked flight, baggage, lounge and Airpoints™ queries. As with other Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, his performance has steadily improved with every customer interaction and today he has conversations on more than 380 different topics, and is able to successfully answer close to 75 percent of questions, up from seven percent on day one.
In addition to the more obvious travel questions, Oscar has been asked everything from the meaning of life to whether a customer can bring their cactus onboard, and he’s even fielded several marriage proposals. He also sings songs and tells jokes on demand.
Air New Zealand Chief Digital Officer Avi Golan says it's been great to see customers increasingly turning to Oscar for information, and playing a role in training him up.
"Artificial intelligence has not only given our customers another quick and convenient way for them to interact with us and get travel information, but Oscar has also freed up our customer service agents to focus on handling more complex queries. Releasing new tech like Oscar so early in the development process was a first for us and allowed our customers to help teach him about the topics most important to them.
Mr Golan says the company's first foray into AI has been a learning experience.
"We've spent considerable time developing Oscar in-house rather than purchase an off-the-shelf bot which often tend to specialise in a smaller number of topics and can be challenging to customise. As a result, we now have a bot with his own unique tone and personality who covers a wide range of subject matter, which has been a much better outcome for our customers," says Mr Golan.
The airline has also introduced Oscar to customers in Australia as well as to users of its mobile app and has integrated the technology that powers him with in-home digital assistants like Google Home and Amazon Alexa. There are further plans for Oscar, including integration with other chat platforms and adding more self-service functionality so he can help customers manage even more aspects of their bookings.
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Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 21 747 320
About Star Alliance
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca Brasil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,400 daily flights to 1,300 airports in 191 countries. Further connecting flights are offered by Star Alliance Connecting Partner, Juneyao Airlines.
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