75 per cent of people would rather deal with a person than a chatbot concerning their finances; one in five has shouted at their robot antagonist; and one in eight admits swearing at them. Rather than save money, Chatbots may actually be driving business away, says Chris Teasdale

If you’ve interacted with customer services in the last three months, it is highly likely you encountered a chatbot. According to department for culture, media and sport statistics, two thirds of people dealt with one in the last quarter, with 40 per cent speaking to one in the last month. Moreover, their rise seems as unstoppable as the tides. The government figures show 68 per cent of companies now use AI in customer service; arguing against them seems like luddism, as doomed – and as backwards – as demanding a return to hand looms. But it is possible their increasingly widespread adoption is going to hit the buffers for a much simpler reason – people hate them.

Most questions over an AI-powered future have so far concentrated on either philosophical questions – such as ownership of intellectual property – or legal ones, such as liability, for example for bad advice. Both are clearly important, but recent figures from the Institute of Customer Service throw up........

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