New YouGov study for Pega suggests businesses using AI are not meeting customer expectations yet.
Consumers do not yet trust artificial intelligence to give them the customer service experiences they demand, according to research conducted by Pegasystems Inc. and YouGov. The study polled more than 2,200 consumers from the United Kingdom on consumer perceptions of AI and how businesses use it.
Over two-thirds (68%) of consumers reported they are either "not very confident" or "not at all confident" in the way businesses use GenAI when interacting with them, while more than half (54%) lacked confidence that organisations use GenAI responsibly.
Key Findings
Half (50%) of respondents said they either rarely or never get successful customer service outcomes through AI-powered interactions only.
80% of consumers say they always or often achieve better outcomes when dealing only with a human. Two-thirds (65%) prefer human-led support.
Just two percent want to interact exclusively with GenAI chatbots.
Over one quarter (26%) thinks they probably use AI every day without realising it.
AI can be transformational for customer service but it has to live up to customer expectations. There are just too many first-hand examples of businesses deploying these tools in ways that lead to dead ends and frustration. Businesses must build back consumer trust by moving past simple chatbots and deploying predictable AI agents that consistently get work done on behalf of customers.
All figures from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,222 in the UK. Fieldwork undertaken between 4th-13th November 2025.
