57% Indian consumers prefer AI-enabled tools over human interactions: Report

New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) In the rapidly growing landscape of consumer preferences, about 57 per cent of Indian consumers said they would choose an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tool or service over human interaction, far more than the global and APAC average of 39 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively, a new report showed on Thursday.

However, human interaction remained a top choice when considering aspects of decision-making, customer support, and returns or cancellations, according to software major Adobe.

Around 39 per cent want both options to be available, particularly when exploring new products and services.

"Advances in generative AI have been already transformational for consumers, and they now expect brands too to also adopt the technology for better and personalised experiences," said Anindita Veluri, Director Marketing, Adobe India.

Despite these preferences and Indian consumers anticipating Customer Experience (CX) benefits from generative AI, the report found that Indian brands are falling behind global peers.

Only 15 per cent are leveraging generative AI to enhance CX initiatives compared to 18 per cent globally. Brands in Europe and the US are also twice as likely to already have dedicated AI budgets and internal usage policies.

However, 41 per cent of Indian brands are seeing CX as a business priority today, and 87 per cent are prioritising CX enhancements over other business goals.

Moreover, the report noted that in the next 12 months, 53 per cent of Indian brands are committed to improving their gen AI capabilities whereas 76 per cent already have or will pilot gen AI solutions to support experience delivery.

The report also mentioned that Indian consumers are most concerned about responsible and ethical usage of their personal data.

Around 60 per cent think that decisions would be made about their data without consent, 65 per cent believe that brands will collect too much data, and 56 per cent stated that brands won’t be able to build ethical AI tools.