AI and People, Designed Together
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Analyst forecasts describe a customer service future run largely by AI. Consumers, asked directly, describe something different. This page gathers the consumer research from 2025 and 2026 with sample sizes, dates, and who commissioned it, so you can weigh it yourself, and draws the design conclusion: AI should be optional, people should be reachable, and customers should always know which one they are talking to.
The Preference for a Person
| Finding | Source | Sample and date |
| 84.9% prefer a human agent over an AI agent; 80.1% still prefer the human even when assured either would resolve the issue | Metrigy 1 | 503 US and Canadian adults, November 2025 |
| 85% would rather speak to a real person than AI (83% a year earlier) | AnswerConnect, OnePoll, vendor-commissioned 2 | 6,000 adults in the US, UK, and Canada, May 2026 |
| 93.4% prefer humans over AI for customer service; 71.0% have encountered AI that struggled with a complex issue | Kinsta, Propeller Insights 3 | 1,011 US adults, February to March 2025 |
| 86% say human interaction is moderately or very important to their brand experience; 58% are only somewhat or not at all comfortable using AI tools with brands | PwC 4 | 5,511 US consumers, 2025 |
| 88% satisfied with interactions handled mostly or fully by humans versus 60% for AI-driven interactions; 47% name inability to reach a human as their top annoyance | Verizon Business and Longitude 5 | 5,000 consumers and 500 executives, seven countries, 2025 |
| 89% prefer a real person when contacting a law firm | LEX Reception, OnePoll, vendor-commissioned 6 | 2026 |
The pattern holds across commissioners and methods. Vendor-commissioned surveys (AnswerConnect, LEX Reception, Kinsta) are labeled as such; the independent research (Metrigy, PwC, Verizon and Longitude) reaches the same conclusion.
Where Customers Are Warming to AI
The same surveys show the preference is for choice, not for the absence of AI. Metrigy found 45.5% of consumers now use AI in select circumstances, up from 39.2% in 2024, and of the 64.1% who have seen AI’s impact on service, 61.7% say it was positive 1. Zendesk’s 2026 research found 74% of consumers now expect 24/7 service 7, which for most businesses is only achievable with automation on the first ring. McKinsey’s analysis reports that one energy company cut billing call volume about 20% and authentication time by up to 60 seconds after integrating an AI voice assistant with its back-end workflows 8. Customers accept AI that works and lets them out.
What Customers Want Disclosed
Disclosure helps rather than hurts. 85% of consumers say it should be clearly indicated when they are interacting with AI 2. In Answering Service Care’s 2025 surveys of 2,000 US consumers and 250 small-business owners, nearly 8 in 10 said AI should identify itself at the start of a customer service call, 37% would lose trust in a company that hides AI, and 22% would hang up if they realized mid-call they were speaking to AI 9. The hang-up risk comes from concealment, not from disclosure. Regulators are moving the same way: Maine prohibits AI that may mislead a consumer into believing they are engaging with a human unless clearly notified, and its definition expressly covers aural communications 10.
The Operators Agree
Service leaders are not behaving as if AI replaces people. In Gartner’s October 2025 survey of 321 customer service leaders, 20% reported AI-driven reductions in agent staffing, 55% held staffing stable while handling higher volumes, and 42% were hiring AI strategists, conversational AI designers, and automation analysts 11. Gartner predicts half of the companies that attributed cuts to AI will rehire for similar functions by 2027 12. Klarna reinstated human representatives in May 2025 with its CEO saying customers should always have the option to speak with a human, even as its AI assistant’s workload grew 13.
The Design Conclusion
Three rules follow from the evidence. Disclose AI at the start of every interaction. Make a person reachable, on request and by rule. Carry the conversation across the handoff so the customer never repeats themselves. That is Redial’s Handoff Standard, and it is how the AI front desk Redial is previewing, IzzyOps (working name), is designed to behave.
How Redial Fits
Redial’s position is that the evidence above is not an obstacle to AI; it is the specification for it. Redial’s omnichannel programs put bilingual people behind every automated tier, and IzzyOps is designed to answer immediately, resolve what is routine, disclose that it is AI, and hand off to a person with the conversation attached 14.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do customers actually hate AI customer service?
They dislike being trapped with it. 31% would hang up if connected to AI, but 85% want AI disclosed and the top annoyance with automation is the inability to reach a human 2 5. Customers accept AI that resolves the routine and lets them reach a person when they need one.
Are these surveys biased because vendors commissioned them?
Some were (AnswerConnect, LEX Reception, Kinsta), and they are labeled here. Independent research from Metrigy, PwC, and Verizon Business with Longitude reaches the same conclusions, which is why the pattern is credible.
Does disclosing that a caller is talking to AI make them hang up?
The evidence points the other way: concealment is what costs trust. 22% say they would hang up if they realized mid-call they were speaking to AI, and 37% would lose trust in a company that hides it 9. Disclose at the start.
Are companies replacing agents with AI?
Far less than headlines suggest. Only 20% of service leaders reported AI-driven staffing reductions in Gartner’s 2025 survey, and 55% held staffing stable while handling more volume 11.
Related Pages
- The Handoff Standard: What Human in the Loop Should Actually Mean
- The Five Requirements of a Good AI-to-Human Handoff
- AI or Human? Deciding by Call Type With Three Tests
- Measuring the Handoff: Handoff Rate, Time to Human, and Context Carried
- Voice AI vs. Human Agents: Finding the Right Mix (Call Center Solutions)
References
- Metrigy, consumer study on human versus AI agents (February 2026) — Survey of 503 US and Canadian adults fielded November 2025: 84.9% prefer a human agent, 80.1% still prefer one even when assured either would resolve the issue, 45.5% use AI in select circumstances, and 38% will leave after one bad experience.
- AnswerConnect, AI customer experience statistics (OnePoll, May 2026) — Vendor-commissioned OnePoll survey of 6,000 adults in the US, UK, and Canada: 85% would rather speak to a real person, 57% would trust a business less if it relied mainly on AI, 85% want it clearly indicated when they are interacting with AI, and 31% would hang up if connected to AI.
- Kinsta via Business Wire, Propeller Insights consumer survey (April 29, 2025) — Survey of 1,011 US adults fielded February 27 to March 10, 2025: 93.4% prefer humans over AI for customer service and 71.0% have encountered situations where AI struggled with a complex issue.
- PwC, 2025 Customer Experience Survey (September 2025) — Survey of 5,511 US consumers: 86% say human interaction is moderately or very important to their brand experience, 58% are only somewhat or not at all comfortable using AI tools with brands, and 29% have stopped buying from a brand because of poor customer experience.
- Verizon Business and Longitude, AI and the human-first customer experience (August 2025) — Research among 5,000 consumers and 500 executives in seven countries: 88% satisfied with interactions handled mostly or fully by humans versus 60% for AI-driven interactions; 47% name the inability to reach a human as their top annoyance with automation.
- LEX Reception, AI Report 2026 (OnePoll, vendor-commissioned) — 89% of respondents prefer a real person when contacting a law firm.
- Zendesk, CX Trends 2026 consumer research (November 2025) — Survey of 6,182 consumers in 22 countries, fielded June 2025: 74% are frustrated when they have to repeat information, 81% want agents to continue a conversation without backtracking, 74% expect 24/7 service, and 85% of CX leaders say one unresolved issue is enough to lose a customer.
- McKinsey, The contact center crossroads (March 2025) — Analysis finding that assisted-call volumes fall only about 2% over three to five years even under fast AI adoption, that 57% of care leaders expect call volumes to increase, and that 71% of Gen Z and 94% of baby boomers see live calls as the quickest way to reach care.
- Answering Service Care, Robots, Reveal Yourself: The AI Call Report (2025) — Vendor surveys of 2,000 US consumers and 250 small-business owners: nearly 8 in 10 say AI should identify itself at the start of a call, 37% would lose trust in a company that hides AI, and 22% would hang up if they realized mid-call they were speaking to AI.
- Maine Revised Statutes, 10 M.R.S. §1500-DD — Prohibits using an AI chatbot or other computer technology in trade and commerce in a manner that may mislead a reasonable consumer into believing they are engaging with a human unless clearly and conspicuously notified; expressly covers textual or aural communications.
- Gartner, survey of 321 customer service leaders (December 2, 2025) — October 2025 survey: 20% of leaders reported AI-driven reductions in agent staffing, 55% held staffing stable while handling higher volumes, and 42% were hiring AI strategists, conversational AI designers, and automation analysts.
- Gartner, prediction on rehiring after AI-attributed cuts (February 2026) — Gartner predicts that by 2027, 50% of companies that attributed customer service headcount reductions to AI will rehire staff for similar functions under different job titles.
- CX Dive, Klarna says AI agent does the work of 853 employees (November 20, 2025) — Report on Klarna reinstating human representatives in May 2025 with its CEO saying customers should always have the option to speak with a human, while its AI assistant handled the work of more than 853 full-time agents by November 2025.
- Redial BPO, Official Sponsor of CCW Las Vegas 2026 (May 19, 2026) — Announcement of Redial’s IzzyLabs partnership and live demonstration of the IzzyOps platform, including the three-tier model: AI only, AI plus the client’s own team, and AI plus Redial agents.
See the Evidence Applied to a Real Call
Disclosure at the start, a person reachable on request, and a handoff that carries the conversation: hear all three on a sample call. Book a demo of IzzyOps (working name), the AI front desk Redial is previewing ahead of commercial availability in late 2026 to early 2027.