MIA Website Chatbot

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Digital Marketing team at MIA began experiencing an increase in inquiries on the airport’s social media platforms. The team then thought that if an automated chatbot was introduced to passengers on MIA’s website to assist with customer service inquiries, the number of questions coming into the social media platforms might decline. On October 6, 2020, the chatbot was introduced in English and Spanish as “Mia.” The headline says, “How can we help?” and the welcome message is “Hi, welcome to Miami International Airport. I’m Mia and I was designed to help answer your questions.” The chatbot was named Mia for obvious reasons, and studies have shown that female chatbot names are better received, such as the most popular AI’s: Siri and Alexa. Instantly, the team noticed questions on social media decreased by nearly 50%, and the chatbot was becoming the primary platform utilized for customer service inquiries and COVID-19 concerns. The website chatbot has resulted in the overall improvement in passenger-facing customer service and communication. For instance, based on the inquiries received, the Digital Marketing team knows how to adjust the information on MIA’s website and the messaging on social media, to better address specific issues facing the traveling public.