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Consumer preference for human customer service rises as frustration with AI grows, study finds
Most customers still want a human when they call for help - 85%, up from 83% six months ago. A 6,000-person study found AI frustration rising and trust falling as businesses automate faster than customers accept it.
Customers Are Rejecting AI in Customer Service, New Research Shows
Consumers across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada are increasingly turning away from AI-powered customer service, according to research comparing customer attitudes from October 2025 to April 2026. The 6,000-person study reveals a widening gap between business investment in AI and what customers actually want.
Preference for speaking to a human agent jumped from 83% to 85% over the six-month period. Meanwhile, those willing to use AI dropped from 7% to 5%. Frustration with AI agents rose from 54% to 59%, and 31% of customers now say they would hang up if connected to an automated system.
The shift points to a fundamental problem: businesses are automating faster than customers are accepting it. AnswerConnect, which conducted the research, found that trust erodes when companies rely heavily on AI for support.
Where Trust Is Breaking Down
More than half of customers-57%, up from 53%-say their trust in a business would decrease if it predominantly uses AI for customer service. Seventy percent believe service quality would suffer if humans were removed entirely.
Loyalty follows trust. Seventy-three percent of customers say they would be more loyal to companies using real people for all service interactions, up from 69% six months earlier.
The data suggest that AI removes something customers value: being understood. Automated systems struggle with nuance, context, and the kind of problem-solving that builds confidence in a brand.
What This Means for Support Teams
For customer support professionals, the message is clear: your role isn't disappearing. If anything, companies that keep people central to their support strategy are gaining competitive advantage.
The research also reveals broader concerns. Comfort with AI is declining across the board. Data privacy worries are increasing. More people believe AI is damaging creativity and problem-solving-areas where human judgment still matters.
The winning strategy isn't removing humans from customer service. It's using AI to support them-handling routine tasks, surfacing information faster, or flagging issues that need human attention. When AI works as a tool rather than a replacement, friction decreases and satisfaction improves.
Learn more about AI for Customer Support and how to implement tools that enhance rather than replace human work.