Today's Brand Equity cover — a woman lost in a glowing efficiency maze — says it plainly: brands have perfected tech-driven service at the expense of human connection. Automation promises frictionless help and instead delivers isolation. As AI chatbots gatekeep access, customers end up doing the emotional labor of their own frustration.[1][2]
Efficiency’s Hidden Toll Airlines set the precedent: kiosks and bots resolve roughly 80% of routine queries, yet fail when context and compassion matter






