AI Was Supposed To Fix Customer Service: It’s 100x Worse | The Deep

“For faster service, try our customer service portal.” Big Tech’s AI rush is the next step in stripping humanity from customer service – promising speed and efficiency. But the data shows something darker: collapsing trust, rising customer rage, and dehumanized systems people can’t escape. In this episode of The Deep, Erika breaks down why we all hate AI customer service, who benefits, and why monopolies are betting you have nowhere else to go.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro: Customer service is broken 2:33 - Why is customer service worse than ever? 5:19 - Corporations sacrifice human touch for scalability  8:43 - A race to the bottom 10:03 - Surveys show customers despise AI support 12:06 - The psychology behind why customers hate it 14:48 - Conclusion: Resisting fatalism

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Sources:

Banks, Alex (@alexbanks). “Note on AI and Attention.” Alex Banks (Substack), June 2, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://substack.com/@alexbanks/note/c-192787692?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=1htswx.

Customer Experience Dive. “Klarna Reinvests in Human Talent for Customer Service as AI Chatbot Use Grows.” Customer Experience Dive, April 15, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/klarna-reinvests-human-talent-customer-service-AI-chatbot/747586/.

HBR Editors. “Fixing Chatbots Requires Psychology, Not Technology.” Harvard Business Review, May 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://hbr.org/2025/05/fixing-chatbots-requires-psychology-not-technology.

StoryBoard18 Staff. “Human Touch Trumps AI: 88% of Consumers Prefer Human Agents for Customer Service.” StoryBoard18, October 22, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/human-touch-trumps-ai-88-consumers-prefer-human-agents-for-customer-service-78916.htm.

The Agent Architect (@theagentarchitect). “AI Customer Service Con: Customer Abandonment.” The Agent Architect (Substack), November 11, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://theagentarchitect.substack.com/p/ai-customer-service-con-customer-abandonment.

Unknown Author. “Title Not Provided.” Substack, (p-171273784), 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://substack.com/home/post/p-171273784.