Twilio has published research suggesting most Australian consumers try to bypass AI customer service agents to reach a human, and spend longer doing so than they save through the AI interaction.
According to the company's 2026 Customer Insights Series, 83% of Australians try to avoid AI agents and speak directly with a human representative. On average, they spend 101 seconds trying to reach a person, while an AI interaction saves 63 seconds.
The findings highlight a gap between growing consumer familiarity with AI tools and dissatisfaction with their use in customer service. Almost half of Australian consumers said they were comfortable having a conversation with AI, and a third said they would prefer AI over a human if it resolved their issue faster.
That openness had clear limits. The survey found 89% of Australians want to be told explicitly when they are dealing with AI, while 60% said brands should be held responsible if an AI mistake costs them money or significant time.
Trust and limits
Australians were more willing to let AI handle routine tasks than sensitive interactions. The most trusted uses were processing a product return or exchange, cited by 71% of respondents, and scheduling appointments, cited by 70%.
Trust dropped for tasks involving health or financial risk. Only 42% said they trusted AI with a medical inquiry such as diagnosis or test results, and the same share trusted it to make a purchase or payment. A slightly higher 45% were comfortable with AI starting a loan application.
The research also suggests Australian consumers are more resistant to AI-led service than consumers in other markets covered by the study. Australia recorded the highest level of frustration among surveyed markets when consumers were directed to a bot instead of a human.
Some 57% of Australians said they felt frustrated or undervalued in those situations, compared with a global figure of 37%. The survey also found 40% were less likely to choose an AI chatbot over a human for customer service than they were a year earlier.
Satisfaction gap
Only 25% of Australian consumers said AI agents fully resolve their query without a human most or all of the time. Roughly half said this happens rarely or never, making Australia the weakest market in the survey on this measure.
The research also identified a mismatch between how brands try to make AI feel more human and what consumers value. Among businesses, 57% said they had developed conversational voice and tone guidelines for AI systems, and 46% said they were creating natural conversation flows.
Consumers placed more weight on practical signs of understanding. A third said an interaction feels genuinely human when the brand acknowledges their specific situation, while 31% said compensation or refunds when something goes wrong matter most.
Christopher Connolly, Director of Solutions Engineering APJ at Twilio, said the results show consumers are judging AI on outcomes rather than presentation. "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," Connolly said.
He said dissatisfaction with current systems was helping to sustain demand for human support. "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," Connolly said.
Twilio surveyed 7,652 consumers and 660 business leaders across 18 markets, including Australia. The Australian results add to evidence that while consumers may accept AI for straightforward tasks, many still want accountability, transparency and a clear route to a person when automated systems fall short.
Connolly said brands should focus less on imitation and more on usefulness. "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," he said.
He added that consumers want interactions that recognise context. "What Australian consumers want most is an interaction that demonstrates context and understanding, and that can only happen when data infrastructure comes first," Connolly said.