AI Trust Gap: Consumers wary of AI for customer service

Gartner finds an alarming lack of consumer confidence in AI for customer service, which can derail self-service adoption efforts.

This chart shows customer service ranking dead last on the trust list of common things consumers can do with AI.

In another study, the company found that 64% of customers prefer companies not to use AI for service, and 53% went so far as to say they would consider switching to a competitor to avoid it.

This is a big problem at a time when self-service development has become a priority for many organizations.

The culprit? AI creating a barrier between customers and human agents, making it harder to reach a human.

This should be a wake-up call to customer service practitioners, who are often tempted to create at least a little friction in accessing a person in an attempt to drive self-service adoption.