Chatbots: Less friend, more foe

Instead of providing much needed assistance in the digital era, chatbots have turned into the “enemy”, with many people having to “battle” them to obtain answers or solutions. — Isometric elements vector created by macrovector - www.freepik.com

As more services become automated, companies are doing away with human interactions in favour of chatbots for customer service and support, a move that is not going down well with consumers.

In a survey of 3,000 customers in the United Kingdom and United States, 53% of respondents found chatbots to be ineffective or only somewhat effective.