Customer Service

Most consumers like human customer service

Photo: Adobe Stock (AI generated)

October 30, 2024

Three-quarters of consumers, 75%, prefer talking to a human when it comes to customer service, according to a Five9 study on how consumers perceive AI and evolving customer experience.

"AI has the power to mitigate customer service frustrations, but it's the human touch that makes the difference. By using AI to automate transactional and routine tasks, human agents can free up time to focus on more complex issues that require critical thinking and sensitivity," Niki Hall, chief marketing officer, Five9, said in a press release on the study's findings. "As consumer demand and expectations increase this season, brands must prioritize transparency and empathy to build enduring trust and loyalty with consumers."

Five9 offers a suite of solutions to power AI-elevated customer experiences via its unified cloud-native Intelligent CX Platform featuring Five9 Genius AI.

Additional findings include:

• 84% of consumers are aware some companies use AI to handle customer service interactions.
• Yet nearly half (48%) of consumers do not trust information provided by AI-powered customer service bots.
• Over half (56%) of all consumers are often frustrated by AI customer-service chatbots.
• 53% of consumers agree online self-service has improved in the last three years. This is higher among younger generations, including Gen Z (61%) and millennials (61%).
• Gen Z is less likely to prefer talking to a real human in-person or over the phone for customer support (66%) compared to Gen X (76%) and Baby Boomers/the Silent Generation (86%).
• However, 63% of Gen Zers and 60% of millennials say they trust information provided by AI-powered customer service bots, with 33% of both groups more likely to say they find AI very helpful and efficient.