May 5, 2026
Recently, Anthropic surveyed over 80,000 people across 159 countries using an AI interviewer, to gather their thoughts on AI. This extensive study has revealed what people really want and expect from AI, and it has given us a lot of insight into how customer expectations are shifting. We’ve sifted through the data and picked out some of the key findings - let’s take a look.
18.8% of people hope for ‘professional excellence’ from their AI tools. They want AI to take care of the everyday, repetitive tasks. This isn’t news, but what is interesting is the deeper reason behind this.
Over 11% of people are hoping for ‘time freedom’. Instead of using AI to increase efficiency so they can do more or better work, they want to leverage it to improve their work-life balance. Speeding up certain tasks is giving people the chance to leave work on time, be present with family, and pursue hobbies outside of work.
Selling efficiency might not be effective anymore - to many people, that simply means more work. Instead, you need to sell freedom. Products that make a task faster give people their lives back.
AI may be beneficial to many, but as with anything, there are downsides. One of the most notable worries people have about AI is its unreliability. 26.7% of respondents cited reliability as their main concern for AI, with 19% actually losing time because of AI, largely because they need to double-check everything.
Fake news is everywhere and sometimes it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not. Total transparency is paramount. If you make a claim as a brand, you need receipts. Data, citations, third-party proof etc. People don’t want to have to spend time verifying everything, give them all the trust signals they need right from the get-go.
Gathering customer feedback or conducting market research isn’t always easy. You often have to choose between a large quantity of vague data or a small quantity of rich data. But Anthropic’s AI interviewer had an overwhelmingly positive response, with over 96% of participants feeling that the AI conversation captured their thoughts well and nearly all would recommend this interview format to others.
It is becoming easier than ever to conduct large-scale qualitative research within days. People respond well to this conversational format and this provides an excellent opportunity for business owners and marketers to harness significant amounts of valuable data so you never need to rely on guesswork.
This interview doesn’t just show us how people feel about AI, it also gives us more insight into how AI is changing customer expectations. People aren’t looking for products, tools, and services that can simply boost efficiency, they’re looking for solutions they can trust to give them the breathing space they need to live freely.
If you need expert help navigating the world of AI or meeting customer needs, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
