A Gartner survey found that 64% of consumers would rather companies didn’t use AI for customer service.
While that’s a clear majority, it also hints that 36% could be comfortable with AI taking the lead.
And that number is rising.
That research was from December 2023 - 18 months ago. And boy has the AI world changed.
You ain’t seen nothing yet!
In the next 18 months, you’ll experience a major shift.
Not because customers suddenly warm to chatbots, but because the bots are getting better.
They’re getting faster, more adaptable, and already beginning to recognise tone, urgency and even frustration.
This isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about a radical redesign of the service experience.
It’s coming (ready or not!). But we need to think about what should happen.
These are some of the questions I’m considering with my clients:
Should AI take care of the repetition while humans bring the empathy? Or are you happy for AI Agents to take on everything?
What skills will your best service professionals need next year that they didn’t need last year?
If trust is the goal, how do you measure it in an AI-enhanced world?
Is it response time, tone, resolution or something more human?
Can AI ever deliver real empathy, or just simulate it well enough?
Are you comfortable with ‘well enough’?
This is a moment in time where we can redefine what great service looks like.
I believe customer service is evolving. Not dying.
As technology catches up with expectations, the real winners won’t be the ones who simply build systems. They’ll be the ones who build trust.
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