Motor industry customers are more likely to be happy to interact with AI for simple tasks than more complex ones, research has found.
Call answering service Moneypenny commissioned a survey of 2,000 UK consumers, who were given a list of automotive-related services and asked to select those for which they would be happy to interact with AI.
The survey found that 34% would be happy to use AI to book a service or MOT, and 24% to book a test drive, while only 17% would be happy using AI to settle a bill and only 10% for buying or selling a car.
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The survey found 41% of respondents would be unhappy using AI for any motoring-related communications.
The survey results also reveal differing attitudes towards AI across different generations, with 52% of baby boomers and 47% of Gen X saying they were not happy using AI for any motoring-related communications, compared with 31% of Gen Z.
Also, more women than men were found to be unhappy using AI, at 47% compared with 34%.
AI ‘not one size fits all’
Casey Lewis, business development manager at Moneypenny, said: “As more and more businesses start adopting AI to improve productivity and efficiency, it’s not a case of one size fits all, and with automotive companies, while progress is being made in customers’ readiness to use AI for simple queries, the survey showed they aren’t so comfortable to use it for more complex conversations.
“In urgent situations, such as a breakdown or when seeking timely updates on a vehicle in a garage or dealership, customers still prefer speaking to a real person.
“The best customer experiences will therefore be achieved by blending both tech and human communications seamlessly, with AI handling simple queries quickly and efficiently, but deferring consumers to a real person for more complicated issues.”