Cogito, the leader in real-time AI coaching and guidance for the enterprise, announced survey results that reveal insights into consumer preferences when it comes to engaging with artificial intelligence (AI) during the customer service experience. The findings confirm that consumers are embracing the personalized sales experience AI offers, but still highly value human-to-human connection and empathy in their interactions.
The Shift from Service to Sales
Respondents ranked customized sales offers as the number one positive impact of AI on customer service experience. This technology benefit was ranked higher than resolving issues/queries faster (second) and widening support windows (third). Moreover, over half (53%) of respondents welcome an agent using AI to suggest relevant upgrades or deals tailored to their needs and purchase history. Notably, Millennials (62%) were the most receptive demographic to this offering. Overall, more than half (54%) of respondents feel AI is more helpful than harmful in customer service interactions.
“This data confirms a growing trend Cogito is seeing in the contact center to boost revenue growth. Organizations are evolving from purely resolving service issues, to taking the opportunity to present new offers during a customer service experience,” said Josh Feast, CEO and co-founder, Cogito. “AI ushers this movement forward by helping identify the right proposal to make based on the customer’s personalized history and needs, while simultaneously enhancing the agent’s capabilities by recommending the best moment and language to seamlessly integrate into the service experience.”
The Value of Human Connection
The future of contact centers lies in the synergy between human expertise and AI capabilities. While AI offers many advantages, much of its potential lies in supporting agents, not taking their place. Notably, over 3-in-4 (77%) respondents would prefer interacting with a human agent who uses AI tools in the background instead of using self-service options like chatbots.
Additional findings include:
- Respondents ranked lost human-to-human connection as the number one negative impact of AI on customer service experiences, next to lack of empathy and fear over human job loss.
- Over 1-in-3 (39%) respondents consider AI-driven customer service (e.g., chatbots) much or slightly worse than human customer service (e.g., phone call).
- However, nearly half (47%) of respondents are comfortable with a customer service agent leveraging AI in the background to automate their tasks.
- 37% of respondents are only slightly concerned about human job loss in certain industries or roles but overall, believe AI will best work as a tool, not a replacement.
The Quality Gen Z Favors Most
A generational divide is emerging when it comes to AI’s role in customer service, with Gen Z valuing human empathy more than older generations like Boomers. Over 1-in-3 (38%) of Gen Z respondents consider lack of empathy to be the most negative impact of AI on customer service experiences, in comparison to only 23% of Boomers.
Further insights reveal:
- Over a quarter (27%) of Gen Z respondents are comfortable with a customer service agent leveraging AI in the background to better understand emotional intelligence to provide empathy and deepen connections, in comparison to only 8% of Boomers.
- 20% of Gen Z respondents aren’t concerned about human job loss as they believe AI will never be able to replace human connection and empathy, in comparison to just 12% of Boomers agreeing.
Cogito integrates the nuances of Emotion AI, the precision of Conversation AI, and the expertise of Generative AI. By analyzing vocal, lexical, and behavioral cues during a conversation, Cogito’s AI equips agents with real-time guidance and support, enabling them to effectively serve customers. This approach allows agents to maintain the human-to-human connection and empathy that customers value in service and sales interactions.
To learn more about Cogito and its impact on service-to-sales in the contact center, click here.
Methodology
The online survey, which was completed by 1,000 18+ U.S. adults, was commissioned by Cogito and fielded by Dynata, a global market research firm, in July 2024.
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