Indians prefer chatbots to be females: Survey

New Delhi : Over 40 per cent of Indian consumers prefer Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbots to be a female who are polite, not sounding serious or posh, a new survey has revealed.

The survey, commissioned by Amdocs -- a global software and services provider -- showed that more than half (53 per cent) of consumers prefer their chatbots to look like a human since human agents better understand their needs (82 per cent) and can take multiple questions at once (62 per cent). 

This is because chatbots cannot deal with complex requests, understand human emotions or deliver personalized offers as well as humans.

Further, 43 per cent consumers said they prefer chatbots to be female, rather than male (21 per cent) and exhibit personality traits such as sounding polite, caring and intelligent, as well as sounding younger and funnier as opposed to sounding serious and posh. 

"Consumers have a good sense of how bots can serve them, better developed than perhaps the industries. Their level of frustration with today's bots is striking," General Manager at Amdocs Gary Miles said in a statement on Wednesday. 

For the study, over 1,022 female and male consumers between the ages of 18 to 74, gave their critical judgment on the use of AI for customer care and commerce. 

The consumers complained that the current chatbots struggle with their complex requests, do not deliver personalized offers and lack human attributes.

Moreover, the survey also revealed that service providers are not investing in the right areas in terms of their AI investments. 

Eighty-three per cent are prioritizing AI investment in increasing speed of response and 50 per cent in information security and privacy. 

However, customers seek better personalization or more comprehensive information in the chatbots.