AI vs Virtual Assistant: What AI Replaces (2026)
AI has replaced 80% of what virtual assistants traditionally did. Email drafting, scheduling, research, data entry, customer service responses — AI handles all of these faster, cheaper, and 24/7. The VA role hasn't disappeared, but it's been transformed. The only VA tasks worth paying human rates for are those requiring genuine judgement, relationship management, or cultural context.
Penny's take
Map every VA task into two columns: "AI can handle this" and "genuinely needs a human." Email drafting, scheduling, research, data entry, basic customer responses — all column one. AI does these for £40/month instead of £15/hour. The remaining human tasks? That's 2-3 hours per week, not 10. AI hasn't killed the VA role — it's made it 80% smaller.
From my notebook
“A coach was paying a UK VA £25/hour for 10 hours/week — £1,000/month. We mapped every task: 5 hours of email drafting, 2 hours of scheduling, 2 hours of research, 1 hour of genuine judgement work. AI replaced the first three categories entirely (£40/month for AI tools). The VA now works 3 hours/week on tasks where human judgement genuinely matters. Monthly cost: £340 instead of £1,000. Better quality on the AI-handled tasks, too.”
“AI tools can now automate 60–80% of traditional virtual assistant tasks at a fraction of the cost.”
— McKinsey Future of Work Report, 2024
What affects the cost — and can AI replace it?
- •Which tasks AI can replace
- •UK-based vs offshore
- •Specialist skills required
- •Remaining human-only hours
- •Agency vs independent
What Penny says
Penny maps exactly which VA tasks AI already handles — email drafting, scheduling, research, data entry, customer responses — and which genuinely need a human. Most businesses find AI replaces 80% of traditional VA work, cutting monthly costs from £1,000+ to £200–400.
Ask Penny about AI alternatives →Frequently asked questions
Can AI replace my virtual assistant?
For 80% of typical VA tasks — yes. AI handles email drafting, scheduling, research, data entry, and basic customer responses. You still need a human VA for tasks requiring judgement, relationship management, or cultural context. The smart move: use AI for the repeatable work, keep a VA for 2-3 hours/week of human-only tasks.
What AI tools replace VA tasks?
Email drafting: ChatGPT or Claude. Scheduling: Calendly or Motion. Research: Perplexity AI. Data entry: Zapier + AI. Customer service: Intercom or Tidio with AI. Total cost: £40-80/month vs £500-1,500/month for a human VA.