Now that the modern AI market has had a few years to mature, insights into how the technology is being used and how consumers are responding to it are finally able to move beyond speculation.
While the array of AI tools, products and services being offered across almost every sector still retains an element of novelty, for many industries some level of AI-powered service has already become the standard.
But while many businesses are happy to accept that AI is their future, there remain questions about how customers are responding to the trend.
Looking to answer these questions, review platform Trustpilot, which holds access to vast amounts of customer sentiment data, has put together a report looking at whether consumers are receptive to AI services and whether the UK as a market stands out.
AI on the mind
According to Truspilot’s data, customers are very much noticing the inclusion of AI tools and services, with reviews mentioning the technology skyrocketing.
Examining data from early 2020, Trustpilot found that globally there were around 2,000 reviews a month that mentioned the technology, a figure that surged more than sixfold to almost 14,000 a month as of September 2025.
This was found to be consistent in the UK, which saw roughly 800 reviews a month mentioning AI in 2020 jump to just under 4,000 a month this year. Interestingly both globally and in the UK, September 2025 saw an all-time high for AI mentions, suggesting continued momentum.
Sentiment towards AI
As Trustpilot’s report points out, “volume is one story; tone is another”, and the story told by the data is a fairly grim one.
Across the five-year period covered in the research, negative sentiment towards AI has stubbornly persisted.
Globally as much as three-quarters of reviews that mention AI express negative sentiment towards its role or effect. This has been more or less the case throughout the past five years regardless of the increase in presence of AI products and services.
This sentiment should be considered by all, but for those in the UK market, the negativity goes even further, with UK-based reviews scoring noticeably lower than the global average for sentiment towards AI.
The UK may contain one of the most advanced AI sectors – typically ranked third behind China and the US – but its customer base appears to be more sceptical and demanding than most.
There is no clear answer as to why UK consumers might hold more negative feelings about AI products than the global average, though the report suggests a few hypotheses.
Perhaps it is the case that, given the UK has such a large AI industry, customers have experienced a greater number of AI-mediated interactions, particularly in high-stakes contexts such as banking and finance.
There has also been a fair amount of media and policy scrutiny regarding AI ethics and data privacy in the UK, which could have influenced perceptions.
Or it may simply be the case that UK consumers are more vocal in online feedback in cases where expectations of service were not met.
Trustpilot’s director of data analytics Thanos Tsiara, suggested exposure was a key factor.
“We’ve seen this before. When e-commerce first emerged, people worried about putting their card details online. When automation reached banking, they feared errors and fraud,” Tsiara said.
“Over time, confidence grew as systems became more transparent and reliable. AI will likely follow the same curve – sentiment will turn once people see consistent fairness and control built in.”
Not all AI is created equal
AI is a fairly general term, so examining sentiment across all mentions, while helpful in determining an overview of public perception of the technology, does not give full context to which AI services consumers do and do not like.
Therefore, Trustpilot broke down reviews mentioning AI from 2024 and 2025 by sector. While all industries had a net negative sentiment, there was considerable variation in the depth of negativity.
Interestingly it was education that saw the least negative sentiment, scoring just −0.07 on Trustpilot’s sentiment scale of –1 to 1. Legal and government services, utilities and insurance similar saw relatively meagre negativity, suggesting the issue is not necessarily around trusting AI with important services.
The sectors that ranked the worst for sentiment included media/publishing, shopping and fashion and hospitality.
Trustpilot suggested a key factor was “perceived empathy”, meaning services where automation replaces personal help were the most negatively perceived.
It may be tempting to outsource customer service to automation, but the data shows that the human touch remains important to customers.
An important lesson that businesses will need to learn is that while clearly AI can be a powerful, even transformational tool, it is vital that it is implemented where it can be used best.
Shoehorning AI services where either the tech is not ready to handle it, or where consumers would simply prefer help from a human can be harmful to the consumer trust that is so vital to maintaining success.
While the broadly negative sentiment may be of concern to some businesses, Tsiara argued it also presents an opportunity.
“The fact that sentiment is mostly negative today means there’s a clear opportunity for the businesses that get it right to stand out,” he said.
“People don’t dislike AI – they dislike how it’s sometimes deployed. When it replaces empathy at critical moments – refunds, claims, or complaints – it can feel cold and unhelpful. But when it adds speed, clarity, or convenience, customers reward that.”
Ultimately, according to Tsiara, “transparency might matter more than perfection”. AI systems will not always work but if you listen to customer feedback and ensure a human is available to pick up where things went wrong, you can build real trust.
