The news: AI can quickly take care of customer service queries, but concerns remain about how it can obscure the path to human assistance, whether it offers a worse resolution journey, and if it actually damages brand loyalty.

• The majority (88%) of US adults who use AI-powered customer support said it resolved their issue, but only 22% said the experience made them prefer the company in question, per Gladly’s 2026 Customer Expectations Report.
• 59% prefer to start the customer service journey with AI, but 45% only like it if getting to a human when necessary is easy.

Digging into the data: Customers don’t resent AI itself, they resent wasted effort—such as being blocked from human help or forced to repeat information. Even if issues are resolved, these friction points erode trust and long‑term brand affinity.

• 57% expect a clear way to reach a human within five exchanges—beyond that point, AI begins to feel obstructive rather than helpful.
• When customers are blocked from human help, 40% will abandon the interaction entirely or take their business elsewhere.

Why it matters: A key issue is measuring AI-powered customer service success by resolution rate rather than by consumer experience.

• Tracking ticket closures and automation rates can monitor progress but misses critical customer emotional and experiential aspects.
• Having a dissatisfying journey during issue resolution is when AI’s reputation starts to erode brand affinity and trust.

Expectations around AI’s ability to help solve problems are limited—delays in getting access to human help will shift the perception of AI from being a helper to a hindrance.

Conversely, well-executed human handoffs improve trust and increase spend, showing that AI and human agents should be designed as collaborators. Over half (57%) of consumers are consistently satisfied when handoffs to human workers work well, 39% develop more positive brand opinions, and 33% buy more.

Recommendations for brands: Resolution alone is not a proxy for a positive customer service experience. AI should be used to expedite assistance, but companies must design the experience so customers always have a friction‑free path to human support and conversation context is preserved across the process.

Don’t reduce customer support teams in favor of automation initiatives. Instead, assign AI as an initial triage that assesses the level of assistance needed, collects basic information, and escalates smoothly as needed.

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