In 2025, the vast majority of digitally connected people have had some interaction with AI. Companies across every industry have experimented with AI tools to help streamline their workload, aid content creation, analyze data, and more. AI can improve efficiency and even revolutionize the way industries do business – but how do people feel about doing business with bots?
Some of the most influential minds in tech have expressed their concerns about AI and the impact it might have on humankind:
- Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “godfather” of AI, resigned from Google in 2023 and said he regrets his contribution to the technology.
- Elon Musk was one of thousands who signed a letter issued by the non-profit Future of Life Institute calling for a pause in AI development.
- Mo Gawdat, author and former Chief Business Officer at Google, has expressed urgent concerns about the impact of unrestrained AI development.
Big-name tech influencers have made their concerns clear. We wanted to find out more about public opinion, so we commissioned OnePoll to explore consumer attitudes towards AI. The results showed that, overwhelmingly, people want to keep it real.
Humans are social; we like to interact, which is why AI systems are designed to sound and act just like us. But in an increasingly digital world, where we automate so much of our daily lives, do we give away too much of the human experience?
Many businesses prioritize convenience over building connections. With automated phone services, website chatbots, and AI customer service agents, it has never been harder to speak to a real person. But with so many solutions available, we have discovered that customers still crave personal, human-centered service. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why.
More than ⅓ of people have been misled by an AI system
People are concerned about AI’s capacity for deception – and for good reason. More than ⅓ of people have been misled into believing they were interacting with a real person when they were actually interacting with AI. While online conversations don’t always guarantee transparency, before AI chatbots, you could always trust that they were, at least… a real person.
In a world that’s increasingly driven by tech and AI, authentic customer connection — the kind that is personal, empathetic, and human-centered — has never been more powerful or more distinct.
Technology can streamline, enhance, and even support our human connections, but it can’t replace genuine empathy, intuition, and care. It’s what makes your business stand out—people want people who truly care, not to be misled by a bot.
AI systems are designed to sound human-like to increase user attention and trust in the tool. This is the manipulation of our most fundamental human instincts. An early study published in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2000 showed that users are more likely to share personal information with a chatbot if they feel it is also sharing information about itself. But AI systems don’t have personal information to share. Sharing fictional personas and information to gain consumer trust is misleading – and people don’t want to be deceived. Our survey revealed that 84% of people want AI to be clearly labeled so they can be notified when they interact with an AI model.
More than half of people are concerned about AI’s capacity for fraud, identity theft, and manipulation
People have real worries about the impact AI might have on their daily lives. According to our research, fraud (56%), identity theft (55%) and manipulation (50%) concerns us most. But we’re also worried about the wider societal impact of AI developments. More than ⅓ of people are concerned about how AI might affect their employment in the future, and 35% of people are concerned that that AI could result in a lack of social skills.
With such potential for damage, it is clear to see why 70% of people surveyed agreed that there should be stricter regulations when it comes to the development of AI technologies.
The vast majority (79%) of people surveyed said they would rather speak to a real person over AI. Human preference is particularly prevalent when the stakes are high. When contacting a law firm, 82% of people wanted to speak to a real person, and in healthcare, 81% preferred to speak to a human over AI. But, we see similarly high numbers for estate agents (70%) and local services (69%).
According to research by Gartner, 80% of businesses expect to compete with each other based on customer experience. But, understanding what the best customer experience looks like can be challenging. Does the efficiency of chatbots and the availability of AI agents keep customers happy? We don’t think so. Only 8% of people said that their problem was resolved after speaking to an AI customer service tool, which means that in many cases, people need to speak to a human anyway. This frustrating process could be the reason that 42% of people said they would trust a business less if they used AI for customer service.
Connection is the answer
There’s a word that always comes up when talking about what makes great customer service: empathy. AI can’t truly be empathetic; people can. This is why AnswerConnect stands for people first, because human connection is the fundamental, irreplaceable element in building a brand that customers trust.
While AI can help businesses achieve great things in many areas, we don’t believe customer service is one of them. Having a team of friendly receptionists committed to helping customers creates a warm and helpful brand experience that makes customers want to return.
We’re keeping it real by keeping customer service human.
Source: OnePoll 2024
