Consumers would rather trust AI agents than their best friends

A new report claims three in four people would trust a personal AI agent to make purchase over their best friends.

A new report claims three in four people would trust a personal AI agent to make purchase over their best friends.

A survey from Accenture of more than 25,000 consumers across 16 countries has made some interesting discoveries about the way people relate to technology and artificial intelligence.

According to the report, 74 percent of consumers would rather let a personal AI agent buy something on their behalf rather than a close friend.

A separate 74 percent of people would also happily let AI agents carry out tasks like reordering products, tackling costumer service complaints, negotiating deals, and handling subscription renewals.

The majority of people want to maintain control, but one in three would happily give an AI agent final purchasing decisions before payment, as long as they took budget, brand considerations and other preferences into account.

Going further, one in 10 of consumers would let agents complete transactions and shop autonomously without having to get approval.

Global Consumer Goods, Retail and Travel Lead Kath Gramling commented: “Consumers are now actively deciding how much authority they give AI agents, from providing support, to making choices, to acting fully on their behalf.”

Despite that, around a third of people think physical stores will become even more important as an experience, while 30 percent value face-to-face interactions as a way of building trust.

AI Retail Lead Brett Leary added: “AI is changing how people shop, not by replacing the role of retailers, but by changing where and how value is created.

“The retailers that win will be the ones that use AI to simplify the functional side of shopping, while deliberately investing in stores and experiences that deliver the human moments technology can’t replace.”