Businesses are rapidly adopting AI for customer service, but the overwhelming majority of American consumers prefer humans over AI, and many would cancel with a company due to AI-only customer service, according to a new report by Kinsta.
Many consumers believe that AI doesn’t actually improve customer service and is just designed as a cost-cutting measure, and loses customers, the report found.
The findings were part of an in-depth survey that shows the concerns that consumers have with AI-only customer service with no humans involved. Respondents don’t dislike AI per se, but they dislike AI as a sole provider of customer service.
Why consumers still prefer human customer service over AI
Respondents prefer humans because they believe humans can solve customer service issues faster and more accurately than AI, which is notable since one of AI’s most touted benefits is its speed.
Consumers also feel that humans are better at solving complex issues, multiple issues, billing concerns or technical problems. Consumers can also easily spot AI in customer service, mainly due to tone and repetition, the report found.
Respondents believe that AI excels in basic, repetitive tasks but fails with complex, higher-stakes customer issues.
“Companies can’t afford to overlook the necessity of human agents in customer service,” said Roger Williams, partnerships and community manager at Kinsta. “Relying solely on AI risks eroding consumer trust and loyalty. For any company to stay competitive, human support must remain a priority.”
The findings include:
| 93.4% of consumers prefer interacting with a human over AI. |
| 71.0% encountered situations where AI struggled with complex issues. |
| 78.3% say humans resolve customer service problems faster. |
| 84.0% say humans are more accurate. |
| 80.6% believe AI is used primarily to save money, not improve service. |
| 88.8% think companies should always offer the option to speak with a human. |
| 62.7% don’t believe AI could ever replace humans in customer service. |
| 51.4% of respondents say they can tell if they’re talking to a human or AI. |
| 41.4% say human customer service has gotten worse due to AI. |
| 49.6% would cancel a service over AI-driven customer service. |
| 41.5% would pay extra for access to human representatives. |
“We know from experience—and now from the data—that people trust people when it comes to support,” Williams said. “At Kinsta, we’re committed to keeping humans at the center of our support experience. While we constantly evaluate how tech can help, it’s clear that empathy, clarity, and trust still come from real conversations.”
Kinsta prioritizes customer service as a fundamental aspect of its business, offering 24/7 support from its team of expert engineers. As a result, the company has been recognized with an average rating of 4.8/5 by TrustPilot and G2.
A national online survey of 1,011 U.S. consumers, aged 18 and over, was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of Kinsta from February 27 to March 10, 2025. Survey responses were nationally representative of the U.S. population for age, gender, region, and ethnicity. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
About Kinsta
Founded in 2013, Kinsta is one of the fastest-growing cloud hosting providers in the industry and the first to be powered by Google Cloud Platform. It utilizes GCP’s lightning-fast Premium Tier network, and clients can choose from 37 data centers worldwide.
Kinsta holds the highest G2 score among managed hosting providers and web hosting providers. In 2022, the company was listed among the “Top 100 Fastest-Growing Products.” Trustpilot also has over 920 reviews for Kinsta, with an average rating of 4.8/5. Additionally, G2 has awarded Kinsta the badges for Best Usability, Easiest Admin, and Users Love Us.
Kinsta offers 24/7 support 365 days a year, in ten languages, from its team of expert engineers. With its new Application Hosting and Database Hosting services, plus hosting for WordPress that supports complex installations such as Bedrock, reverse proxy configurations, and tools like SSH and WP-CLI, its entire platform is built with developers in mind.
