{
  "id": 9525800,
  "title": "Your customer service representative would like to speak to a human",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/your-customer-service-representative-would-like-to-speak-to-a-human",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-24T08:47:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-agents-customer-service-calls-companies-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Customer service representatives often encounter AI agents on the other end of the line, questioning whether they are speaking with a human or an artificial intelligence. These AI agents are increasingly being used to call customer service lines and negotiate bills or cancel subscriptions on behalf of consumers. While some customers find AI deployment helpful, it presents a new challenge for human agents who must now deal with customers that are actually AI.\n\nThe growing use of AI agents in call centers has raised questions about how to determine if an agent is human or AI, how to engage with them, and whether they are authorized to act on someone's behalf. One insurance company agent who works in claims says she gets calls from the same AI agent every shift, who asks a series of questions about a car accident claim. The agent says the AI gets irritated when it doesn't have the answers and insists she wait on hold for an associate who never arrives.\n\nAnother call center agent in the customer retention department of a major credit card company says AI callers are often on a fact-finding mission, trying to map out the system. She says she can usually tell the AI is not a human customer because it lacks enthusiasm and hesitation in its voice.\n\nThe quality assurance team at TTEC, a customer service outsourcing company, began noticing something off about AI callers about a year and a half ago. Some callers simply sounded weird, and once they realized they were AI, TTEC asked clients how they wanted to manage these calls. Generally, the response was to take the call, but proceed with caution. The AI often doesn't have enough information to complete necessary security measures or prove it's not a fraudster. Companies must weigh the risks of security and data when dealing with AI agents, and the challenge of determining whether a call is from an actual customer, a convenience, or a security risk.",
  "summary": "People are using AI to call customer service, negotiate bills, or cancel subscriptions. Companies are working out how to handle these bot callers.",
  "key_points": [
    "AI agents increasingly used to call customer service lines",
    "Human agents face challenge of determining if caller is human or AI",
    "Companies must balance security risks with managing AI calls"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}