Customers Hate Your AI Chatbot. Small Businesses Should Listen
Customers Hate Your AI Chatbot. Small Businesses Should Listen
Publish Date: 2026-04-20 18:49:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Digital chatbot, A.I., robot application, conversation assistant, AI Artificial Intelligence concept. Woman using mobile smart phone chatting with digital chatbot customer service
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AI chatbots have become a current concern for backlash on how customers evaluate businesses currently. According to a survey conducted by SurveyMonkey, 79% of customers stated they would prefer interacting with a human versus a chatbot. The fact that 79% of customers stated they would prefer a human indicates that this trend raises questions about how businesses are adopting automation in customer service in terms of adopting automated technology in customer service. Unfortunately, the data goes deeper. Approximately 56% of the surveyed individuals indicated that their previous experiences using AI to receive assistance were negative. In addition, nearly 9 out of 10 (84%) indicated that human representatives provided them with more accurate information than did chatbots. Finally, approximately 9 out of 10 (89%) indicated they wanted the ability to speak directly to a human representative at any time.
A large number of companies have taken customer-facing chatbot applications out of the lab (and into the hands) of consumers as cost-cutters; and, now, consumers are noticing. According to Forrester, within the next two years approximately one in ten businesses will damage their relationship with their customers using poorly executed artificial intelligence. For a smaller business competing based upon superior personalized services this could be seen as a warning sign or a great opportunity for differentiation.
Why Most Chatbots Fail Customers
The major issue with current AI Chat Bots isn’t the tech. It’s deploying it out of context. A company puts in a chat bot, feeds it their FAQ, and calls that customer service. The chat bot responds to the easy stuff. When a consumer has an actual issue, the chat bot just goes back and forth with canned scripts, asks the consumer to give the same…
