Most Call Center Agents Don't Believe AI Will Steal Their Job

A quick glance today at the technology headlines might appear to reveal that every frontline customer support worker fears that artificial intelligence is getting ready to steal their job. But is it reality?

It’s not, according to a recent survey of more than a thousand U.S.-based customer service and sales representatives. Customer intelligence platform provider Dialpad’s newest study, “The State of AI at Work Report,” found that 70 percent of sales and customer service professionals don’t fear that AI will steal their job. Moreover, a vast majority of agents – 79 percent -- noted that using AI tools has made a positive impact on their performance.

“AI has created an all-new technological frontier that is compressing the pace of innovation at a rate we never thought possible,” said Dan O’Connell, Chief AI and Strategy Officer at Dialpad. “As AI continues to be embedded throughout enterprise workflows, it’s crucial to focus on new opportunities created by this transformation – the potential that it possesses is a must for every business.”

To gather the data, Dialpad surveyed over 1,000 customer service and sales representatives across a range of industries, including (but not limited to) media, retail, manufacturing, finance, energy, and defense. The survey was administered in the U.S. between May 8-22, 2023, through Qualtrics. Survey respondents included employees from enterprises of all sizes and surveyed various levels including agent/representative, manager, director, VP, and C-suite executives.

Further results of the study include:

• AI adoption is positive: 76 percent of respondents stated that they previously didn’t use AI but will now consider it after using ChatGPT.
• A large majority (84 percent) of sales managers and above believe that AI tools are crucial to support their company’s growth objectives.
• Thirty-seven percent of respondents said lack of budget was the reason AI tools aren’t being used at work. The report also found that addressing ethical concerns, developing robust policies, privacy and improving accessibility to ensure that AI is deployed in a responsible, fair, and inclusive manner remain additional barriers to wider adoption.