Business Insider · 24 Sep, 08:47 · Business briefing

People are sending AI bots to sit on hold, cancel subscriptions, and fight customer-service battles for them

Reports indicate a growing trend where individuals deploy artificial intelligence agents to manage tedious customer service interactions.

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The briefing

The story
in brief.

What happened, who it affects, and why it landed on our intelligence desk — in plain English, sixty seconds or less.

Reports indicate a growing trend where individuals deploy artificial intelligence agents to manage tedious customer service interactions. These bots handle tasks such as navigating complex phone menus, enduring long hold times, and negotiating subscription cancellations. This shift highlights increasing consumer frustration with traditional support channels and a desire to reclaim personal time. Professionals should note this as a significant indicator of changing expectations in client relations and service delivery, signalling a move towards automated resolution for routine administrative burdens.

Employer demand for Medical Physics skills — indexed growth since 2019
Indicative index of skill mentions in professional job postings for the field this story moves (2019 = 1)

Your move

What this means
for your career.

Every headline redistributes opportunity. Here is who this one rewards — and how to be on the right side of it.

This shift demands that you rethink how you manage client expectations and operational efficiency. Routine administrative tasks are increasingly automatable, so your value lies in handling complex, empathetic negotiations that bots cannot replicate. You must prioritise emotional intelligence and strategic problem-solving over basic transactional skills. Smart professionals will audit their workflows to identify repetitive tasks suitable for automation, freeing capacity for high-value relationship building. Focus on mastering negotiation techniques and crisis management to address issues that require human nuance. Ignoring this trend risks rendering your current support processes obsolete. Instead, embrace AI as a tool to enhance, not replace, your professional interactions, ensuring you remain indispensable in an automated landscape.

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Indicative salary uplift in the fields matched to this story
Indicative ranges from published continuing-education salary studies, by field — each field is a recommended course below

Matched to this story

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