AI call center is off to a rocky start

Artificial intelligence may be the future of customer service, but some early consumer reviews suggest that, at least for now, you should prepare to be annoyed.

AI-powered chatbots can act as virtual concierges steering wayward customers to the right resolution, but many customer service chatbots still deflect rather than resolve issues. Outright request refusals — or sending customers into a maze of AI-powered ambiguity that leaves them too exasperated to continue a complaint — are still common in the chatbot playbook.

“I hate AI customer service chatbots,” said Carmen Smith of Campo, California, who said she often ends up in an endless loop when dealing with the technology. “It seems that no matter what, they all will either point you to some type of FAQs list or repeat information you’ve already tried and found lacking,” Smith said. “I hate dealing with them, but a lot of companies use them nowadays, alas. I’d rather speak to a human being.” 

Smith is not alone. Nearly one in five consumers who have used AI for customer service saw no benefit from the experience, according to the Qualtrics 2026 Customer Experience Trends Report. That figure — a failure rate almost four times higher than for AI use in general — points to something specific about customer service that makes it harder for AI to get right. Consumers rank AI applications for customer service among the worst for convenience, time savings, and usefulness. “Too many companies are deploying AI to cut costs, not solve problems, and customers can tell the difference,” said Isabelle Zdatny, head of thought leadership at Qualtrics XM Institute and the author of the report.

There’s a simple business reason why the experience for many customers has not been a positive one. “AI doesn’t change corporate incentives — it scales them,” said Ben Wiener, global head of Cognizant Moment, the digital experience practice of global technology and consulting firm Cognizant.

‘Relentlessly optimize’

Companies have always shaped customer service around what they measure and what they reward. Inside many customer contact centers, human agents operate within tightly scripted flows designed to limit discretion. In others, brands empower employees to do what it takes to keep customers happy.

“If leadership prioritizes minimizing refunds, reducing escalation to humans, or shortening call times, you can expect AI agents to reflect that philosophy in the experience — in the same way a human agent would. These were always business choices, and AI systems will enforce those choices too,” Wiener said, adding that AI can do it more consistently and at higher volumes. “AI will relentlessly optimize whatever metric it is given,” Wiener said. “Businesses need to be explicit about what outcomes they want their AI systems to prioritize, because those systems will deliver exactly what they are trained and measured to achieve,” he…