Can AI compete with Humans for Personalised Service?
By Benjamin Baume, Co-Founder of Craggle
When I talk about artificial intelligence and how it’s changing customer experiences, people often stop me mid-sentence and ask, “But honestly, can AI ever really match a real human being when it comes to genuine, personalised service?”
It’s a good question, and I understand the scepticism. Personalisation feels like an inherently human concept. It evokes images of face-to-face conversations, empathetic smiles, the warmth of a person genuinely caring about your circumstances. It’s about feeling heard, understood, and valued on a deeply personal level.
But here’s the thing—while empathy, kindness, and intuition are absolutely human, exceptional personalised service relies on several crucial elements. And, surprisingly, many of these elements are not only achievable with Generative AI, but in some respects, AI actually performs better than humans.
Before you dismiss this as tech hype, let’s unpack what personalised service truly means, identify the five critical factors behind it, and explore how AI enhances these in practical, real-life ways. We’ll also address some common frustrations you might have experienced with personalised service—and see how AI addresses those, too.
The 5 Critical Elements of Personalised Service and How Generative AI Enhances Them
- Understanding What You Actually Need
Think about your best customer experiences—the ones where you felt genuinely understood. It wasn’t just that someone remembered your name; they remembered what matters to you, what you prefer, your worries, your dreams.
Why this matters:
When someone remembers details, we feel valued. It turns transactions into meaningful interactions.
AI’s Superpower:
AI doesn’t get tired or forget details. Generative AI analyses huge amounts of information—far beyond what humans can reasonably process—within seconds. It detects patterns in your behaviour, understands what matters most to you, and remembers your past interactions flawlessly.
Imagine applying for a home loan. Typically, you’d need lengthy conversations, paperwork, and multiple follow-ups. With Generative AI, not only do you instantly see personalised loan recommendations, but you receive proactive financial advice tailored to your spending habits, income, family situation, and even anticipated future needs—instantly.
- Proactive, Helpful Communication
Nothing says personalised care like reaching out proactively, especially when you’re dealing with complex or stressful decisions like mortgages or insurance.
Why this matters:
Proactive communication shows genuine care. It builds trust, reduces anxiety, and helps customers feel genuinely supported.
AI’s Superpower:
AI doesn’t have off days or forget to call you back. It proactively sends timely reminders, updates, and critical information exactly when you need them. It ensures promises are always kept, creating a stress-free, predictable interaction every time.
Imagine never again feeling anxious about a forgotten callback or waiting endlessly for an important update. AI ensures that every promise of communication is reliably kept, no exceptions.
- Consistency Across Every Interaction
We’ve all experienced the frustration of repeating our story over and over. Consistency across various touchpoints (emails, apps, phone calls, chats) is crucial for building trust.
Why this matters:
Seamless experiences tell us that a business genuinely knows and values us. It removes frustration and builds a reassuring sense of trust.
AI’s Superpower:
AI integrates data instantly and continuously across every channel. It ensures every interaction you have feels seamless, connected, and perfectly aligned with your previous experiences, regardless of the platform.
Imagine effortlessly switching from chatting online, to your phone app, to a face-to-face consultation without ever repeating your circumstances again. AI provides this smooth continuity, removing any frustration of redundancy.
- Fast Responses, but with Real Substance
We want answers fast—but not just fast, we want answers that are insightful, relevant, and actionable. Speed without substance feels meaningless.
Why this matters:
Real-time, accurate advice empowers us. We appreciate our time, but we value thoughtful solutions even more.
AI’s Superpower:
AI provides rapid yet deeply thoughtful answers because it’s instantly drawing from massive databases of up-to-date information. It’s like having immediate access to the world’s most knowledgeable expert on your specific issue, providing instant, tailored insights that are trustworthy and immediately actionable.
Imagine asking complex financial questions at 11 pm and receiving accurate, personalised, insightful answers in seconds—no waiting, no hassle, no ambiguity.
- Simplicity and Empowerment
Personalised service should simplify the complex, making you feel empowered, confident, and in control.
Why this matters:
Complex processes intimidate and frustrate us. Simple, clear advice and instructions empower us to take confident actions.
AI’s Superpower:
AI is exceptional at breaking down complicated tasks into simple, intuitive steps, making even intimidating decisions (like choosing the right loan or insurance coverage) feel manageable.
Imagine confidently navigating financial choices through clear, understandable guidance, never feeling overwhelmed or uncertain again.
Now let’s flip the coin—because delivering a great personalised service isn’t just about adding bells and whistles. It’s also about removing the stuff that makes people groan, sigh, or quietly vow never to deal with your business again.
Common Frustrations with Personalised Service — And How Generative AI Solves Them
You know the ones. The clunky handovers. The pushy sales calls. The déjà vu of having to explain yourself for the third time in the same conversation.
These common friction points can derail even the most well-intentioned customer experience. But the good news? Generative AI can eliminate a lot of them—consistently, and at scale.
Here are three of the biggest pain points customers face, and how AI is helping to turn them into smooth, trust-building moments.
- Repeating Yourself—Again and Again
Ever felt exhausted from explaining your situation repeatedly to different customer service representatives or departments?
Why this matters:
Constant repetition makes us feel like faceless numbers instead of valued customers.
AI’s Solution:
AI seamlessly remembers every detail of your past interactions, no matter when or how you communicated. Every person—or channel—you interact with has instant access to your full story, eliminating repetition completely.
- Feeling Pressured by Sales Tactics
We’ve all experienced customer interactions that feel more like a sales pitch than genuine help. It’s uncomfortable, disheartening, and often makes us reluctant to engage further.
Why this matters:
Aggressive selling undermines trust. It makes us question the sincerity of the advice we receive.
AI’s Solution:
Unlike humans motivated by sales targets or commissions, Generative AI operates without bias, focused solely on your best interests. It consistently provides impartial, pressure-free assistance tailored exactly to your needs, making you feel safe and supported.
Imagine confidently exploring financial options knowing the recommendations are purely about your wellbeing, never about sales quotas or commissions.
- Inconsistency When People Change Roles or Teams
Service quality shouldn’t depend on which individual employee handles your request. When your primary contact leaves, your experience shouldn’t suffer.
Why this matters:
Inconsistency erodes trust and makes us feel undervalued.
AI’s Solution:
AI provides consistent, centralised access to all your interactions, ensuring the quality of service remains exceptional—even if your personal contact changes roles or leaves the company.
So, can AI ever really deliver a personalised service experience?
Ultimately, the answer to this question lies with you. Personalisation itself is deeply personal—it depends on your expectations, experiences, and what genuinely makes you feel valued as an individual.
Perhaps, after considering the examples above, you’re among those who rationalise that AI truly can deliver an outstanding personalised service experience—thanks to its unmatched ability to anticipate needs, ensure consistency, eliminate frustration, and simplify complexities.
Maybe you’re someone who sees AI more as an empowering tool—something that doesn’t replace humans but complements and elevates their strengths. In your view, the best personalised experiences might arise when AI’s speed, accuracy, and consistency blend seamlessly with human empathy, intuition, and emotional intelligence.
Or you might firmly believe that genuine personalised service is something uniquely human—built upon real emotional connection, warmth, and empathy that no machine can replicate. You might argue that AI, while powerful, will always miss that essential human touch.
There’s no right or wrong answer here. Personalisation, after all, means something different to each of us. What matters most is your own perspective—how you personally define a truly meaningful and satisfying service experience.
So, I’ll leave you with this thought:
Where do you stand—can AI truly deliver personalised service, or is it something that only humans can genuinely achieve?
