Customers prefer AI chatbots, says British Gas owner as 1,300 call centre and back office jobs axed

‘We expect more jobs to grow around our digital interface,’ said Chris O’Shea. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

The owner of British Gas has claimed that most households would rather speak with an AI chatbot than deal with the company’s staff as it prepares to cut 1,300 jobs from its call centres and back office.

Centrica, the supplier’s FTSE 100 owner, plans to cut 800 jobs as the company carries out a “targeted deployment of AI tools”, on top of the 500 cuts it confirmed last month.