via Craig Hale, TechRadar

Consumers just want real, human sources

Consumers are experiencing ‘bot fatigue’ after interacting with impersonal AI, WordPress VIP finds.

61% can’t even name a brand that’s using AI well in marketing or CX.

AI is emerging as a discovery layer, not a customer service replacement.

New research from WordPress VIP has uncovered just how much AI is impacting browsing and online shopping habits, with three in four (74%) consumers believing the Internet feels less ‘human’ than it did 10 years ago, largely due to AI and automation.

40 minutes is now the average time before consumers feel so-called ‘bot fatigue’, where they’ve been interacting with too much AI and want more human connections, the study claimed.

But while artificial intelligence promises to solve more and more customer service tickets, three in five (61%) consumers cannot even name a single brand that uses AI well in marketing or CX.

Rather than replacing human workers and tools, consumers seem much happier to accept it as a replacement for other digital services, like search engine discovery. They want companies to focus on appearing in AI search results, but they still want original human content and direct access to sources.

“No customer or user wakes up and says, ‘I hope I get to talk to a chat bot or an AI agent today’,” ServiceNow Head of Global Innovation Brian Solis wrote. “Human-centered design is truer today with artificial intelligence.”