Happy Friday! Here’s our picks for the best customer service, customer experience, bot and mobile articles of the week, in no particular order.

Employees vs. Robots: Who Is Better At Service? by Jeff Toister

At OneReach, we’re big believers in the fact that automated customer service, or bot-mediated customer service, can make for a better customer experience. It’s quicker, easy to use, and most times will be able to get you the answer for a simple question. But as customer service expert Jeff Toister points out in his CustomerThink post, while robots may have a vast database of knowledge backing them, they might have trouble making a human connection with customers. However, he does acknowledge bots’ strength in solving simple customer services inquiries, but explains that complex interactions are still best in the hands of a human.

6 Unexpected Places to Find Customer Service Resources Online by Cathy Reisenwitz

I’m always interested in learning more about customer service and customer experience, and I have a few go-to sites I visit—MyCustomer, CustomerThink, ICMI, Brand Embassy, etc. But it turns out there are some unexpected places to find customer service wisdom on the Internet. In her article for Capterra Service, Cathy Reisenwitz explains that sites like Buzzfeed are a great source of customer service inspiration. As Reisenwitz points out, the site does a great job of highlighting customer service stories, and even somehow makes the relationship between cat GIFs and good customer service.

Why Chatbots Will NOT Replace the Contact Center by Vit Horky

Chatbots are becoming increasingly prevalent, so much so that Facebook Messenger and Kik, two of the world’s largest messaging platforms, are rolling out their own bot stores. This means that it will be easier than ever for businesses to add automated communications to their business, or design their own bot. But when it comes to customer service, will bots reign supreme? Brand Embassy CEO Vit Horky thinks not, namely because bots can’t empathize and are only as good as their existing knowledge base. Much like Jeff Toister, though, he admits that bots are good for simple, straightforward interactions, while humans should still be involved in more complex, emotional conversations.

23 Statistics That Show Why Customer Service Mostly Sucks by Jay Baer

Every business likes to think they provide great customer service, but the reality is that there’s a huge disconnect between brands and consumers. Research shows that while 80% of businesses think they provide great customer service, only 8% of consumers agree. And those aren’t the only statistics out there about poor customer service. In his Convince & Convert post, content marketing expert Jay Baer outlines the various frsutations customers have with customer service, ranging from slow response times to unanswered complaints to the decision not to make a purchase.

To learn more from the experts about providing great customer service, download the report here.