Telecom firms eye generative AI use in IT, call centers – Capgemini

As generative AI continues to make headlines – indirectly, for the most part – executives have taken notice, with 97% of telecom companies surveyed by Capgemini Research Institute saying the technology has popped up on their boardroom agendas. The institute surveyed 1,000 organizations, 10% of which are in the telecom industry, asking about the use cases they are exploring.

While 69% of surveyed telecom executives believe the benefits of generative AI outweigh potential risks, only 12% think generative AI will significantly disrupt their industry. This is in contrast with areas like high tech and industrial manufacturing, where 53% and 48% of executives, respectively, hold this view.

Many companies have already started looking into possible applications of generative AI. Among telecom organizations, 36% have a dedicated team and budget. At the same time, 47% said they have started exploring its potential, while another 49% have begun working on pilots. Only 4%, meanwhile, have enabled generative AI capabilities in some functions or locations.

Among telecom companies, 36% say they are piloting generative AI applications in call center analytics. One example is Orange, which is testing generative AI's ability to transcribe calls, summarize customer interactions and suggest follow-up actions together with Google Cloud. Another frequently explored application is restoration of old media, with 30% of telecom organizations surveyed conducting pilots.

IT is also a promising field for generative AI use. A majority of the telecom companies surveyed, or 71%, are using or planning to use generative AI in this area. Applications can include generation of synthetic data and optimizing IT service delivery, as well as auto-generation and completion of data tables.

Capgemini cites an unnamed telecom executive as saying "developers internally want to use the technology because they believe it will allow them to produce higher-quality code much more quickly." Advantages offered by generative AI in programming include creating code based on prompts written in natural language, completing partially written code and facilitating translation from one coding language to another.

Freeing up employees

Some of the views in the telecom industry align with those in other sectors. Across the board, companies see IT (e.g. testing and coding assistants) as the most promising application, followed by sales, marketing and communications.

(Source: Capgemini Research Institute)

Some telcos have been more proactive than others. The report highlights the example of South Korean operator KT, which has developed its own large language model (LLM) to be used in smart speakers and customer call centers. The LLM has advanced conversational skills in the Korean language, which it can use to "control TVs, offer real-time traffic updates, and complete a range of other home-assistance tasks when prompted by voice commands."

Capgemini's data suggests that, across the board, most consumers and executives (70% in both cases) believe generative AI will make them more efficient at work by freeing them from routine tasks and allowing them to explore more strategic aspects of their jobs.

But another view is that generative AI will free many employees from their jobs altogether. In May, BT's CEO Philip Jansen said that AI will allow the company to slash 10,000 jobs – out of around 130,000 – by 2030. In a sector where many are chasing savings, BT may not be an outlier.

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— Tereza Krásová, Associate Editor, Light Reading