- For any person who prefers to interact with AI prefer 4.4 to talk to people
- Baby boomers are severely anti-I-I when it comes to customer service
- Report highlights the value of human connection
According to new research from octa, 70% of consumers prefer to interact with people where only 16% choose AI agents over humans.
In the UK, this trend is even more marked, with only 11% preferring AI agent interactions and one in two (54%) do not even trust AI with their personal data.
Furthermore, barely one in three (36%) sees any real benefit in AI agents, suggesting that productivity-promoting technology may not be on its most useful in customer service environments.
Consumers just want people
Artificial intelligence is most appreciated in language translation, research and writing output that are task-oriented, rather than the transaction interviews typical of customer service funds.
Globally, Octa found that the relationship between those who prefer people rather than those who prefer AI stands at 4.4: 1, but countries like the United States (4.2: 1), Japan (3.4: 1) and India (1.1: 1) were less concerned about talking to humans. Still, no country scored higher for AI and highlighted the importance of human interaction and customer service involvement.
Octa also compared generations, with baby boomers extremely less likely to want to talk to AI (41.5: 1) -met more than gene x (9.8: 1), Millennials (3.2: 1) and Gen Z (2.3: 1).
It is simply the human touch that gives people the top edge – ‘a human understands my needs better,’ said two out of three (64%) respondents. Frustration, when dealing with AI agents, was also a significant frustration (38%).
However, there are some benefits to interacting with AI, including faster and more streamlined reactions without emotional bias.
Looking ahead, Octa calls for a measured and calculated approach to AI agents, building security and privacy privacy initiatives for those from Get-Go. “Finally, do not overlook the value of human agents – if one thing appears in the study, it is that users still appreciate the human connection,” the report concludes.
