This issue features an in-depth piece from Professor Mark Smith of ContactEngine, who believes that his organisation has found the niche where conversational AI can both improve customer experience and make organisations more efficient.

We also look at a report from an interesting roundtable event hosted by Pegasystems, looking in particular at the issue of algorithmic bias, and how it relates to human biases. Do we expect more from machines than we do from people, and are we right to? Our book review this time is the excellent Artificial Unintelligence. Meredith Broussard is able to delineate very precisely the strengths and weaknesses of machine learning tools, in a way that cuts through the hype, therefore explaining how damaging they can be if we don’t use them in the right way.

Elsewhere, we look at what the Index of Consumer Sentiment (which we somewhat rashly launched in the Spring) tells us about the impact of the pandemic on how customers are feeling, and what that might mean for their behaviour, which sits really well alongside some new research that we’ve conducted into how customers’ spending habits are changing. We also have a new Brand Health product feature from TLF panel, and a guest feature from Natterbox on the challenges for contact agents in working from home.