[IRIS] HICSS-60 CfP: Minitrack on Human Roles and Skills in AI-based Services

[Juho Lindman]

Call for Papers: Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 60 (HICSS-60): January 5-8, 2027, Hilton Waikoloa Village, Big Island, Hawaii
 
Minitrack: Human Roles and Skills in AI-based Services (in Decision Analytics and Service Science track)
 
Minitrack Description:
 
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming service delivery by augmenting human employees and automating entire service processes, even fundamentally reimagining what human capabilities mean in service contexts. Machine-learning-powered service technologies such as service robots, LLM chatbots, diagnostic AI tools, and algorithmic decision-making and management systems have become integral parts of many service processes. This directly impacts frontline service employees who engage with customers – whether physically or virtually. By taking over employees' old tasks, creating new tasks for them, and transforming their roles, AI changes the nature of humans' work, for better or for worse. This transformation can extend beyond simple task automation to reshape how human workers leverage their uniquely human capabilities like emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving, and adaptive thinking in collaboration with AI systems.
 
What does all this mean for service workers? Will AI enhance service workers' expertise and empower them to deliver better customer service? Or will it disrupt their role identity, leading to degradation and dehumanization of work, and ultimately job displacement? The dynamic nature of AI technology suggests that its impacts on workers and customers can be multifaceted. Its disruptions fall unevenly over service workers with different skills, roles, and tenure across industries. Our minitrack explores these thorny questions, focusing on (but not limited to) these topics in particular:
 
The incorporation of AI into service delivery
Work design for AI-based services
New/emerging/future service roles and skills enabled by AI
Service job displacement due to AI
How AI transforms existing service roles and skills
Upskilling and/or deskilling of service workers
The effect of AI on service workers' wellbeing 
How service employees cope with the incorporation of AI into their work
How service organizations adapt and change in response to AI 
How service business models adapt and change in response to AI
Unintended consequences of incorporating AI into service delivery
Future of humans' role in service delivery in the age of AI
AI-facilitated customer interaction
Customer perceptions of, and attitudes toward, AI-based services
AI-based self-service technologies (in retail, hospitality, etc.)
Development of capabilities in managing AI-powered service systems
Development of complementary human-AI capabilities 
New capabilities required for human-AI collaboration in service delivery

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Tapani Rinta-Kahila, The University of Queensland, t.rintakahila at uq.edu.au (primary contact)
Juho Lindman,  University of Gothenburg,  juho.lindman at ait.gu.se   
Virpi Kristiina Tuunainen, Aalto University School of Business, virpi.tuunainen at aalto.fi
Michael Leyer, Philipps-University of Marburg, Michael.leyer at wiwi.uni-marburg.de