Artificial Intelligence isn’t new but it is transforming the world for better, every single day. On the other hand, customer experience is driving businesses towards zenith. And when these two powerful tool combines, it becomes something that not just companies but even customers can’t ignore. Pegasystems’ new report reveals the same. According to its research, Indian consumers generally trust new technologies like AI if they see the potential to improve their productivity and make things simpler.

The survey was conducted by research firm, Savanta. It surveyed over 1,000 consumers in India on their views about AI as it relates to morality, ethical behavior, and empathy. Among them, 74 percent constituted millennials and GenX. This study also found that despite a large portion of the respondents putting their weight on AI, they still worry about the ethics behind AI and the potential for it to act with bias. In a still maturing market for technology adoption like India, it’simportant for organizations to understand their customers’ perceptions, knowledge gaps, and preferences of AI to optimally implement it.

The survey also finds that AI is accepted as key for better customer experience, with 84 percent agreeing AI has the potential to provide better customer experiences, improve brand reputation, and increase customer loyalty. Surprisingly, 78 percent said they are comfortable interacting with AI for business-related queries.

Yet another surprising aspect that the survey reveals is that the consumers now prefer talking to machines over humans. The study found 60 percent of Indians are more likely to tell the truth to an AI system or chatbot as compared to a human. This could be due to the fact that they engage with a neutral bot that probably eases people’s concerns about the embarrassment of saying the wrong thing or crating a misunderstanding given the huge variety of cultures, subcultures and myriad of beliefs across the country.

Nearly 75 percent of the respondents believe that machines can behave morally and thus make good decision based on empathetic considerations. In addition, 76 percent of respondents in India believe that when an organization uses AI to make relevant, appropriate and valuable offers to their customers, it is an example of AI demonstrating empathy. But nearly 80 percent of respondents believe that AI-based decisions can be biased without any human interventions. And only 33 percent believe that AI will evolve to become less biased over time.

Nearly 85 percent of the respondents in India believe companies have a moral obligation to do what is right and 79 percent trust companies’ have customers best interest at heart.

To maintain consumer trust, organizations must ensure they implement AI responsibly as customers are still sitting at seesaw on whether to trust AI or not. If organizations deviate from satiating all concerns of their customers, they would risk losing their hard-earned customer loyalty. Hence organizations should adopt transparent and unbiased AI, which means their AI models can explain exactly why a decision was made. By combining AI-based insights with proper AI governance, organizations can more safely adopt AI while driving better customer engagements.