New research from customer engagement platform Twilio has found 83 per cent of Australian consumers attempt to bypass AI agents to speak to a human representative, spending an average of 101 seconds trying to do so.
By comparison, interactions with AI agents save consumers an average of just 63 seconds, leaving customers with a net time loss of 38 seconds when trying to navigate automated support.
The findings suggest brands risk undermining the convenience they hope to deliver through AI if customers cannot easily access human assistance when automation falls short.
According to Twilio’s 2026 Customer Insights Series, Australians are becoming more comfortable interacting with AI, but their willingness to hand over customer service tasks comes with conditions around transparency, accountability and the ability to reach a real person.
Almost half (48 per cent) of Australian consumers said they were comfortable having a conversation with AI, while a third would prefer AI over a human if it could resolve their issue faster.
However, 89 per cent want to be explicitly told when they are interacting with AI, and 60 per cent believe brands should be held responsible if an AI agent makes a mistake that costs them money or significant time.
The research also suggests Australians remain more reluctant than consumers in other markets to trust AI agents with tasks independently, particularly when sensitive information or financial decisions are involved.
Processing a product return or exchange was among the most trusted autonomous AI tasks, with 71 per cent of Australians comfortable handing it over to an agent. Scheduling appointments followed at 70 per cent, while 68 per cent trusted AI to make a dinner reservation.
By contrast, only 42 per cent were comfortable with AI independently making a purchase or payment, or handling a medical inquiry such as a diagnosis or test result.
Australia also recorded the highest proportion of consumers globally who said they felt frustrated or undervalued when a brand directed them to an AI bot instead of a human, at 57 per cent, compared with 37 per cent globally.
Four in 10 Australian consumers said they were less likely to choose an AI chatbot over a human for customer service than they were a year ago.
Customer satisfaction may be contributing to the reluctance. Just 25 per cent of Australian consumers said AI agents fully resolved their query without needing a human most or all of the time, while roughly half said this rarely or never happened.
“Brands must ensure AI customer service delivers what customers actually want: faster answers, less effort and secure handling of their data. But it’s clear there’s some way to go,” said Christopher Connolly, director of solutions engineering APJ at Twilio.
“Until satisfaction with AI agents rises, Aussies will keep reaching for that human contact. Once these basics are met, this may change, and there may also be less hesitation with using AI for more complex tasks.”
The research also highlighted a disconnect between what brands believe makes AI feel human and what consumers actually value.
While 57 per cent of businesses said they had developed conversational voice and tone guidelines for AI systems, and 46 per cent were creating more natural conversation flows, consumers placed greater importance on whether an interaction demonstrated an understanding of their individual circumstances.
Acknowledging a customer’s specific situation was the leading factor, cited by 33 per cent of consumers, followed by offering compensation or refunds when something went wrong, at 31 per cent.
For brands investing in automated customer experiences, the findings suggest that making an AI agent sound more human is not necessarily enough. Consumers also want it to understand their problem, resolve it effectively and take responsibility when something goes wrong.
“AI agents that mirror natural human conversations are valuable, but they must come with transparency. AI doesn’t need to pretend to be human, it just has to be genuinely useful,” Connolly said.
“What Australian consumers want most is an interaction that demonstrates context and understanding, and that can only happen when data infrastructure comes first.”
Twilio surveyed 7,652 consumers and 660 business leaders across 18 markets between April 9 and May 1, 2026, including respondents in Australia.
