New Research: AI Is Raising Customer Expectations While Falling Short on Delivery

AI promises to make everything faster and smoother. According to a new Alchemer study, customers believe that promise — and they're holding companies to it. The problem is they're not seeing it delivered.

Alchemer's 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Study surveyed 2,009 U.S. consumers and found that nearly six in ten say knowing a company uses AI makes them expect faster responses. But 89% say AI has hurt their experience with a company in at least one way.

The biggest complaint, at 44%, was difficulty reaching a human when AI couldn't fix the problem. That's a direct conflict with one of AI's primary business cases — reducing human support costs through automation.

The gap between expectation and execution is widening. Forty-five percent of respondents say AI has raised their overall expectations for companies. Yet 30% have had to repeat information they already provided, and one in five said AI made issue resolution take longer.

The study also highlights a market signal worth watching: 43% of consumers would pay more for a product that guarantees access to human support — a premium that suggests automation without a human off-ramp is a feature customers actively want to escape.

Key Takeaways

• 89% of consumers say AI has hurt their experience with a company in at least one way
• The top complaint is not inaccuracy or privacy — it's being unable to reach a human when AI fails
• 43% of consumers would pay a premium for guaranteed human support access

Read the full article on MarTech