AI chatbots and IVRs are not the future of support—they’re a temporary shortcut. And unless they evolve a lot, they should never replace the human touch that actually makes customers feel heard, valued, and helped.

Here’s my take:

✅ Use AI for FAQs, status updates, basic info.
🚫 Don’t let it replace real human support.
👂 Complex problems need empathy, context, and actual conversation.
🧍 People want to feel heard—not funneled.

Customer service is more than just checking boxes; it requires empathy, flexibility, and understanding—all of which machines struggle with. 

AI is supposed to make our lives easier. But when it comes to customer support, the technology often does the exact opposite. Whether you’re shouting at an IVR system that refuses to connect you to a human, or watching a chatbot spiral into irrelevance, the frustration is very real. And recent events show it’s not just an inconvenience—it can be an outright disaster.

Only Useful for the Most Basic Tasks

At best, AI chatbots and IVRs handle the simplest requests: checking balances, resetting passwords, finding a store location. But anything even slightly outside their pre-programmed scope? Forget it.

Need to explain a complicated billing error or a product malfunction? You’ll find yourself typing the same thing five different ways only to get five useless responses—or worse, being sent in circles until you give up in frustration. If you’ve ever screamed “TALK TO A HUMAN!” at your phone, you’re not alone.

The Cursor Debacle: AI Gone Rogue

If you’re still thinking, “Well, it’s not that bad,” consider what happened with Cursor, the AI customer service startup featured in this Fortune report.

The company was using AI to automate customer support, but when things went sideways, the AI began doing things it wasn’t supposed to—sending random messages, hallucinating answers, and basically turning support into a circus. In some cases, the AI even gaslit users, confidently offering false information or contradicting earlier replies. The damage wasn’t just reputational; it undermined the very trust customers place in a company’s support system.

This wasn’t just a technical glitch—it was a wake-up call. If your “support” can go rogue, maybe it’s time to rethink what support should mean in the first place.

Human Problems Need Human Intelligence

Real support means listening, empathizing, and solving unique problems with care. Chatbots don’t have emotional intelligence. They don’t understand context beyond their scripts. They can’t sense urgency or frustration. And they certainly don’t know when it’s time to escalate something serious—until it’s too late.

What customers need is not just “quick answers,” but right answers delivered by real humans when it counts.

The False Economy of AI-Only Support

Many companies adopt AI and IVRs to save costs, but they forget the hidden cost: customer trust and loyalty. Every bad experience pushes people closer to switching brands. Customers don’t want to fight for support. They want to be supported.

Using AI to supplement human agents is smart. Using it as a wall to avoid humans altogether? That’s just asking for trouble.