The Human Connection Deficit
Recent research confirms what many of us intuitively sense: when it comes to customer service, customers don’t want to be greeted by a robot. For example, a field study of some 35,000 chatbot interactions at a telecommunications company found that 66% of respondents gave a satisfaction rating of just 1 out of 5 (Harvard Business Review).
Another survey of nearly 6,000 consumers across four continents found that 88% admitted to “major concerns” about AI handling their service interactions — and 64% stated they would prefer companies did not use AI for customer service (CX Today).
"Customers crave empathy, human connection and the sense that 'someone is listening'."
What this actually means
The issue isn’t that AI is inherently bad for customer service. It’s how it’s used that makes all the difference. Customer service at its core is serving your customers—listening, understanding, resolving issues, building relationships.
If AI is deployed front-and-centre, replacing human interaction entirely, you risk creating frustration, distrust and disengagement. Studies of “algorithm aversion” show that when people feel an algorithm is going to replace a human in a meaningful interaction, they recoil.
AI as the assistant, not the replacement
But what if instead AI is the assistant, not the replacement? What if AI supports the human in service of the customer, rather than taking over? That’s the smarter path forward forward.
A better way forward
Imagine this scenario: Your organisation equips its customer-facing team not with a chatbot that tries to do full interactions but with tools that free them to do what humans do best: connect, empathise, solve complex problems. AI silently goes to work in the background. Here’s how that can look:
- Real-time Assistance: Use AI to transcribe customer phone calls in real time (or after the fact), preserving the full dialogue so the human agent doesn’t have to furiously take notes.
- Automated Summaries: Use AI to summarise the call, highlight the key points, the emotion, the next steps. That means the agent comes to the follow-up ticket already informed, ready to act.
- Routine Workflow Management: Leverage AI in your CRM or ticketing system to automate routine workflows: tagging tickets, routing them, flagging repeat issues, suggesting knowledge-base articles to the human agent.
- Human Control: Keep the human agent as the front line of contact, especially when empathy, judgement or nuance matters. Let the agent decide when the interaction is shifting from routine to complex, and let them stay in control.
The takeaway
Don’t fear the rise of AI: embrace it — but wisely. Let AI handle the “grunt work” behind the scenes – transcription, summarisation, routing, automation. Let humans handle the “heart work” – listening, empathising, solving, building relationships.
For your team, your customers and your brand, this hybrid approach is the future of customer service. AI isn’t the enemy — when managed well, it’s the ally.
