Do consumers really want to talk to bots?

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Q: Do consumers really want to talk to bots?

For all the hype around artificial intelligence, one truth keeps surfacing in customer experience research: most people still want to talk to a human — at least when the stakes are high. Yet comfort with bots is rising fast, and the generational and industry lines are starting to tell a more nuanced story. Recent surveys from Gartner, Zendesk, Verint, Pew Research and others paint a complex picture of how consumers are adapting to conversational AI in 2025.

Humans still win the popularity contest — for now

Gartner’s 2024 study of global consumers found that 64% would prefer companies didn’t use AI for customer service. That figure captures an instinctive caution: many people still associate “AI” with rigid menus, robotic voices and dead ends. The technology’s reputation is shaped as much by early frustrations as by recent breakthroughs.

But that resistance is softening. Zendesk’s 2025 CX Trends report, based on more than 10,000 consumers in 22 countries, shows two-thirds of respondents are eager to offload routine service tasks to a personal AI assistant, and 64% say they trust bots more when they sound “human-like.” In other words, people are warming up to automation — provided it feels accurate, personable and useful.

The public seems to be adopting a “bot for speed, human for judgment” mindset. A 2025 CMSWire review of U.S. CX leaders found that nearly half (49%) expect bots to perform an intent check and then escalate to a human rather than run fully autonomously. It’s a practical middle ground: use automation to clear the queue, but keep empathy in the loop.

Dig deeper: Agentic commerce is here and consumers want to use it to help find deals

The age factor: Generational comfort gaps

Perhaps the clearest dividing line runs through age. Younger consumers — especially those under 35 — are far more willing to engage with chatbots and voice assistants. Pew Research’s February 2025 polling on AI at work found that 44% of workers aged 18–49 rate chatbots as “highly helpful” for speed, compared with 29% of those 50 and older. The same group gap appears in perceptions of quality (31% vs. 23%). Younger generations grew up with messaging interfaces and see AI as an extension of digital convenience, not a replacement for human care.

For older consumers, comfort lags behind. A 2024 UK small-business communication survey showed that only 23% of people aged 55 or older were comfortable with AI-mediated communications, versus nearly half of younger respondents. Even when these older customers use digital channels, they expect — and often demand—a clear path to a live agent.

Between those two ends sits the middle cohort (roughly ages 35–54), whose attitudes are more conditional. Verint’s 2025 research notes that 47% of this group prefers human contact but will accept automation if it resolves the issue quickly. That pragmatism—using bots for low-stakes tasks and humans for complex ones — defines the most realistic model of modern service delivery.

The takeaway for brands: design experiences that flex by age and digital fluency. Don’t assume that one interaction model fits all. Offer frictionless automation for digital natives and clear, respectful human options for customers who value reassurance and empathy.

Industry differences: Where bots shine — and where they struggle

Retail and ecommerce

If any sector has embraced conversational AI, it’s retail. Bots handle order tracking, returns and FAQs at scale — and customers are increasingly fine with it. Zendesk’s latest data shows that acceptance rises sharply when interactions are accurate, fast and friendly. Large retailers like Walmart are experimenting with AI assistants for guided shopping and service triage, aiming to combine personalization with efficiency. The key success factor is transparency: customers tolerate automation when they know what they’re dealing with.

Banking and financial services

Financial institutions have moved quickly too, but the stakes are higher. Bots now handle balance inquiries, card freezes and payment reminders, but trust and compliance remain fragile. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that poorly designed chatbots can undermine trust and create legal risk by misinforming customers. As a result, most banks use AI assistants as a first line — fast for routine needs — but ensure immediate escalation to human agents for disputes, fraud, or claims. The formula: automation for convenience, humans for credibility.

Telecommunications

Telecoms were early adopters of digital care, but satisfaction still hinges on problem resolution and escalation. J.D. Power’s 2025 wireless-care analysis found that performance varies widely across store, phone and digital channels. Customers appreciate quick bot interactions for data-usage checks or device resets but rate satisfaction much lower when bots fail to resolve billing or coverage problems. The lesson: seamless handoff between bot and live support remains essential.

Healthcare

No sector shows more hesitation toward full automation than healthcare. While chatbots are increasingly used for appointment scheduling, insurance verification and benefits navigation, patients strongly prefer a human for anything involving symptoms, diagnoses or emotional support. The pattern is consistent across global CX studies: bots work for administrative triage, not clinical care. Here, accuracy and empathy aren’t optional — they’re life-critical.

The psychology behind bot acceptance

Why do attitudes toward bots vary so much? Several psychological factors surface repeatedly in the data:

1. Familiarity breeds trust. People who use AI tools in daily life — voice assistants, predictive text, smart devices — transfer that comfort into service settings.
   
2. Control reduces anxiety. Customers are more positive when they can easily “escape” the bot and reach a person.
   
3. Tone and design matter. Zendesk’s 2025 research links “human-like” attributes — empathy, warmth, conversational phrasing — to higher trust levels. Stiff or scripted bots quickly trigger resistance.
   
4. Context defines tolerance. Consumers accept automation for transactional or low-risk interactions but insist on human contact for emotionally charged or financially consequential ones.
   

Together, these factors suggest that bot satisfaction is less about technology and more about experience design. People don’t reject AI wholesale; they reject bad AI experiences.

Designing the hybrid future

Across studies, one clear best practice emerges: assist, then hand off. Companies should deploy bots to gather context, confirm intent and solve simple issues — then transition gracefully to human agents for complex cases. This “collaborative choreography” is becoming the new gold standard in CX.

Other design imperatives include:

• Personalize tone and pacing. The more natural and emotionally intelligent the language, the higher the trust.
  
• Signal escalation paths early. Customers feel safer knowing help is one click away.
  
• Use sentiment detection. Bots that recognize frustration or confusion can pre-empt churn by escalating proactively.
  
• Segment experiences by age and channel. Offer “concierge-style” AI for younger digital natives and guided support for older demographics.
  

A landscape in transition

The research consensus is clear: consumers’ relationship with service bots is evolving from suspicion to selective acceptance. Automation has earned its place as a first-line responder, but not yet as a full replacement for human connection.

In the coming years, that balance may shift again. As generative AI systems become more conversational and context-aware, they’ll close the empathy gap that currently limits satisfaction. But even then, people will still crave the reassurance of a real person—especially when the problem is messy, emotional, or expensive.

For now, the smartest customer-experience strategy is a hybrid one: let bots handle the speed, and let humans handle the stakes. Brands that master this division of labor—by understanding how age, industry, and emotion shape expectations—will deliver service that feels both efficient and genuinely human.

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