Customers say speed is the biggest benefit of getting service from an automated agent versus a human agent, according to recent research from Verint.
The report was based on data from a survey conducted in 1Q26 among 5,000 consumers in the United States.
Respondents say the top advantage of AI-powered customer service is that it tends to save time and resolve issues more quickly. This was also the top response in last year's edition of the same survey.
Respondents across all age groups say they prefer human customer service agents to AI-powered customer service agents.
Preference for human agents over AI-powered agents increased by 5% between the 2025 edition of the survey and this year's survey.
Some 69% of respondents who prefer human agents to AI-powered agents say they'd switch to automated service if it could fully resolve their issue.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted in 1Q26 among 5,000 consumers in the United States.
