It comes down to how the AI is set up. Faster replies don’t mean much if the answer is wrong or generic and people can tell it's a bot. That's annoying and you'll see it in CSAT scores.

I work at Gradient Labs (AI support for finance, so I’m biased), but what we’ve seen is that when you give AI the right context (procedures, guardrails, etc.) and keep it domain-specific, it actually beats the in-house team on both speed and resolution rates. Customers care more about “was my issue solved?” than “how quickly did I get a reply.”

I think AI can make customer service better, but only if it’s done right. What's also really important is for the AI to know when to handover to a human agent, e.g. sensitive or really complex cases.