Should we tell our customers they are talking to an AI?

Online assistants, email replies, virtual advisers: more and more exchanges with customers go through an AI. There is a temptation not to say so, to make the exchange feel more human or to avoid mistrust.

The European AI regulation provides that people must be informed when they interact with an AI, unless it is obvious. But the stakes go beyond the obligation. A customer who finds out afterwards that they were talking to a machine feels deceived, and that feeling spills over onto the whole relationship. Conversely, an AI that is clearly presented, with the option of reaching a person, is far better accepted.

• Customers often guess.The style, the speed or an answer that misses the point give the machine away, and trust suffers.
• Being able to talk to a person is reassuring.It often matters more than the quality of the AI itself.
• Content produced by AI raises the same question.A generated email or document also commits the company’s image.

1. 01Say clearly, from the start of the exchange, that the customer is talking to an AI.
2. 02Offer a simple way to reach a person at any time.
3. 03Have a lawyer review your information notices in the light of the European regulation.

We help design exchanges with AI that respect the rules and preserve trust.

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