● Covered by 2 sources · 2 reportsMedium impact1 negative1 neutral
UK Banks and Energy Firms Urged to Reduce Reliance on AI Chatbots for Customer Care
Key points
- Citizens Advice urges essential service providers to offer human contact.
- Chatbots cause stress and delay problem-solving for over 50% of users.
- Digital exclusion affects 14 million UK citizens.
- Erosion of traditional communication creates a two-tier support system.
- UK government released a draft guide for employees on ethical AI use.
- The guide advises against thanking AI chatbots.
- The document emphasizes checking AI output for accuracy and fairness.
- Employees are responsible for decisions made with AI assistance.
- The draft document is titled "Using AI ethically and sustainably".
Call for Human Contact in Customer Service
Citizens Advice has urged essential service providers in the UK, such as banks and energy companies, to reduce their reliance on AI chatbots for customer care. The charity advocates for a guaranteed "right to talk to a human" for customers. This call follows research indicating that chatbots frequently lead to wasted time, increased stress, and delayed resolution of issues for more than half of their users.
Impact on Digitally Excluded Individuals
The proliferation of AI-powered customer service systems in vital sectors like energy, banking, and telecommunications is making it more difficult for millions of digitally excluded people to resolve problems. Citizens Advice, which provided one-on-one assistance to over 2.7 million people in England and Wales last year, highlights that these systems exacerbate existing challenges for those with limited digital access or skills.
Chatbot Ineffectiveness and Frustration
The charity concluded that chatbots often cause harm by trapping users in "endless loops" where issues remain unresolved. Nearly half of individuals who used a chatbot found them unhelpful, with some feeling the system was designed to make them give up. Tom MacInnes, policy director at Citizens Advice, stated that overreliance on chatbots and online forms prevents people from addressing billing problems, debt, or accessing homelessness prevention services.
Creation of a Two-Tier Support System
Citizens Advice's investigation into digital exclusion, estimated to affect at least 14 million UK citizens, revealed slower and less reliable support for those struggling with online systems. The decline of phone, face-to-face, and paper communication methods has resulted in a two-tier support system, disadvantaging individuals without good digital access. For example, correcting a wrong energy bill can take six weeks offline compared to less than an hour online.
Updates
- UK government released a draft guide for employees on ethical AI use.
- The guide advises against thanking AI chatbots.
- The document emphasizes checking AI output for accuracy and fairness.
- Employees are responsible for decisions made with AI assistance.
- The draft document is titled "Using AI ethically and sustainably".
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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How outlets covered it
The UK government released a draft guide for its employees on using AI ethically and sustainably, including a recommendation to avoid thanking chatbots. The document emphasizes checking AI output for accuracy and fairness, and reminds staff of their responsibility for decisions made with AI assistance.
Citizens Advice has called on UK essential service providers, including banks and energy firms, to guarantee customers the "right to talk to a human" instead of relying heavily on AI chatbots. Research by the charity indicates that chatbots often waste time, cause stress, and delay problem-solving for over half of users, particularly affecting digitally excluded individuals.