Rather than “live in the hypotheticals and theoreticals” of artificial intelligence, one data scientist delved into the practical applications of AI in senior living during a recent roundtable hosted by senior living marketing group Varsity.
Discussions surrounding artificial intelligence generally tend to focus on changing the way someone works or revolutionizing the workplace. Zack Collevechio of WildFig & Pavone Group, however, led roundtable attendees through examples of how AI can make business more efficient and showed them how to integrate advancements.
Collevechio said that several ways exist that companies can use AI for writing and communication, including generating content for blogs, assisting in email responses, translating content into various languages and creating content for marketing, social media and newsletters.
AI assistants, he said, can be trained to understand a brand’s voice and answer questions specific to the business for customers visiting a company website. Chatbots can function as 24/7 virtual assistants for lead generation, resident inquiries or employment inquiries, and email automation can provide automated responses to inbound emails after hours.
AI assistants also can be used to monitor and track online reviews across multiple platforms. Collevechio added that phone call assistants will become more common in the future as they evolve.
Internally, those assistants can be used to improve efficiencies — policy bots can upload policy documents and help staff find answers quickly, financial documents uploaded can create quick analyses to uncover insights and opportunities for budgeting. Bots can also provide operational support by assisting companies with regulatory compliance.
The data differentiator
Everyone has access to the same AI tools, Collevechio said. What sets operators apart is their data.
Customer data, resident data and sales data are unique to each provider, allowing companies to input their information into various AI platforms to create tailored results.
AI can be used for sales optimization, for example by scoring leads based on their likelihood of conversion. Doing so allows sales staff to direct their attention to the most engaged leads, which improves conversion rates and saves time. AI tools also can infer individual preferences based on consumer interaction and provide personalized recommendations.
Data also can be used to address resident safety.
Data from wearable technology devices that track gait and movement patterns can identify potential fall risks in residents. They also can lead to process improvements by identifying particular areas in a senior living community where people fall more often or what times of day are rife for falls, allowing communities to increase staffing or be on alert to mitigate the falls before they happen, Collevechio said.
Collevechio recommended starting the process by creating an AI roadmap. AI has a low barrier to entry, he said, recommending that communities start with simple tools and grow as they gain experience. He also recommended identifying areas where AI can save time and resources in a community and start with applications such as customer service bots or simple automation that are “low effort, high impact.”
“How can you implement AI into your company starting today?” he asked. “Advance that over time to become more sophisticated.”
Collevechio also recommended creating a data strategy to be ready to implement solutions when the time comes. Be mindful of how data are tracked, how they are used, and the processes in place to use good data, he said.
