Research on customer-facing artificial intelligence has found that resistance to AI use follows some predictable patterns: Chatbots trigger two separate frictions that lead users to avoid the tools; people are more receptive to AI as a messenger for bad news than they are to human messengers, whereas good news is more appreciated when delivered by a human; and a simple comparison of AI's capabilities relative to a human's and whether a user wants personalization predicts AI adoption versus rejection. Companies are betting that AI chatbots will deliver faster and cheaper customer service. But if you've ever tried to circumvent a chatbot and get to a human, you're not alone. Here's what three recent studies discovered about when customers will and won't let AI do a human's job. 1. Customers avoid chatbots for two compounding reasons. In a study simulating a customer service scenario, participants repeatedly chose between two unlabeled options: One required waiting in line before their...
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