AI productivity study shows varying impact on customer support workers

A study involving 5,172 customer support employees indicates that AI assistance can lead to a 15 percent average increase in the number of cases successfully processed per hour. However, the benefits are not distributed equally, as less experienced employees saw greater improvements compared to highly experienced staff.

The research highlights that these results stem from a specific supportive application within a particular corporate context rather than a general autonomous agent platform. Previous experiments involving experienced open-source developers showed a 19 percent increase in processing time when using AI, though researchers noted that subsequent investigations faced measurement issues that prevented a reliable current effect value.

Experts suggest that companies should adopt a sober approach by analyzing their own specific tasks, quality requirements, and employee groups instead of relying on general productivity averages. It is critical to determine whether time savings maintain quality or if speed is being prioritized at the expense of accuracy.