This week brought big news about AI helpers in customer service. Companies are using smart computer programs called AI agents to help customers faster and better.

BoldDesk, a customer service company, released new AI 2.0 technology. This lets businesses create different AI helpers for different jobs. For example, an online store can have one AI helper for clothes questions and another for electronics questions. These AI helpers can even do tasks by themselves, like checking order status or canceling orders.

A big study found that AI chatbot use jumped from 62.7% to 73.8% this year. More companies want AI helpers because customers expect fast answers. Research shows 90% of customers want immediate responses, and 60% think that means within 10 minutes.

But not all companies are getting rid of human workers. Gartner, a research company, says all Fortune 500 companies will still have human customer service workers by 2028. They found that going completely without humans doesn't work well. Some companies tried it and had to hire people back.

Klarna, a payment company from Sweden, learned this lesson the hard way. They replaced 700 human workers with AI chatbots in 2024. While they saved money, they found some problems were too hard for AI to solve. Things like identity theft needed human helpers. So they had to hire some people back.

The chatbot market is worth $7.7 billion and growing fast at 23.3% each year. This shows that while AI helpers are getting better, companies still need the right mix of computers and humans to help customers well.