The number — 71% of your customers want to know when it’s an AI answering them

Customers are not against AI: 80% say they are willing to use AI-assisted customer service. But their acceptance rests on one simple condition, honesty. 71% consider it very or extremely important to know when they are dealing with an AI rather than a person. Hiding the AI does not make it more acceptable; it weakens the relationship the day the customer finds out, and that day always comes. Transparency is not an admission of weakness, it is what makes automation acceptable.

Wherever you put AI in front of a customer, whether by chat, email, phone or a voice assistant, say so clearly up front and keep an easy path to a human.

Source: Five9 / Hanover Research, “2026 Business Leaders Customer Experience Report,” April 2026 (3,000 consumers across the U.S., U.K., and Germany).