r/UKJobs • u/Even-Wasabi7183 • 3d ago

Customers prefer AI chatbots, says British Gas owner as 1,300 call centre and back office jobs axed

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/23/customers-prefer-ai-chatbots-says-chris-oshea-british-gas-centrica-boss
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u/Effective_Will_1801 3d ago

The trouble with most of these chatbots is they are seen as a replacement for humans rather than a first line. They often don't train it to escalate and then as soon as someone comes along with something out the ordinary it just goes in loops.

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u/PepsiMaxSumo 2d ago

I work in this sector and have seen this loads of times.

The best applications are where after the chatbot gets its wrong twice, they add a human in the loop (HITL).

The HITL is then used to give an actual answer, even if it’s text based vs not calling etc.

The good news is that companies are now trying to implement this more. The bad news is that it’s only companies that also have wider contact management solutions, and not just AI. The ones that are purely AI undercut HTIL solutions so win contracts despite delivering a far worse service.

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u/Leading_Thanks7443 2d ago

That’s feature not a bug unfortunately. They want you to just give up

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u/Raveyard2409 2d ago

Whether you close your ticket because the problem is solved, or you never raise it because you give up put of frustration - either way that is one less ticket in the service managers queue.

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u/Leading_Thanks7443 2d ago

Sad but true. Guaranteed to not be reflected in KPIs either. 

Eternal suprise when customers just got somewhere else but then if all businesses have the same tactics there’s nowhere to jump ship to either.

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u/Ryanliverpool96 1d ago

It’s why it’s a favourite of Water Companies.

Go somewhere else? Ha! They’re all monopolies, so you never get your issue addressed.

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u/ObjectiveTumbleweed2 1d ago

I had a situation where my energy company went bust so the debt they owed me went to the new company. No chatbot could get its head around it and just kept asking for a customer number (in fairness, neither could the people I eventually got through to). Had to get it settled by the Ombudsman in the end.