A Gartner report highlights a shift in customer service strategies, revealing that many businesses are choosing to retain human agents despite the promise of AI. The survey of 163 customer service leaders indicated that 95% plan to keep human agents, illustrating a reaction against the complexities of fully AI-driven models. Issues with AI's limitations and unexpected costs hinder its implementation, ultimately making human support essential. While AI has transformative potential, the article stresses that it cannot wholly replace human interaction, a sentiment echoed by industry analysts.
Kathy Ross, a senior director analyst in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, said: "While AI offers significant potential to transform customer service, it is not a panacea. The human touch remains irreplaceable in many interactions."
Brian Weber, VP analyst in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, told The Register that projects where businesses expected generative AI to solve all their customers' queries "are not going as planned due to both the results and the unexpected costs."
The poll of 163 customer service and support leaders found that almost all (95 percent) planned to retain human agents alongside AI, "avoiding the pitfalls of a hasty transition to an agentless model."
Anyone who has dealt with a business that has removed humans from its customer service portal will be nodding sagely. A failure to understand what AI can and cannot do has led to some hasty rollouts and big promises that have resulted in customers having to either navigate through systems so restricted that they might as well be navigating a choose-your-own-adventure book, or come up against the brick wall of an AI unable to understand or resolve their query.
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