Consumers Trust AI Agents Mostly For Assistive Tasks

AI agents are everywhere as firms disguise basic rule-based functionality as AI agents to differentiate offerings. The market’s struggle to settle on a definition of AI agents leaves consumers confused; some associate “agent” with customer support. Even as consumers lean into generative AI’s benefits, there’s a trust disparity in the tasks they’d allow AI agents to perform. US and UK online adults are more likely to trust AI agents for assistive tasks, like doing research, than agentic tasks, like making purchases or managing finances. Consumer trust in AI will evolve in three phases. They’re just getting used to the first phase: assistive AI. This is a snapshot of Forrester’s data on consumer sentiment about AI agents.