Thinking Skills Don't Protect Service Workers from Replacement by Artificial Intelligence

Darina Vorobeva (), Yasmina El Fassi, Diego Costa Pinto, Diego Hildebrand, Marcia M. Herter and Anna S. Mattila
Additional contact information
Darina Vorobeva: EM - EMLyon Business School
Yasmina El Fassi: Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal, Lisbon) - NOVA
Diego Costa Pinto: Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal, Lisbon) - NOVA
Diego Hildebrand: Baruch College [CUNY] - CUNY - City University of New York [New York]
Marcia M. Herter: Universidade Europeia (Portugal, Lisbon) - UEL
Anna S. Mattila: Penn State - Pennsylvania State University [State College, PA] - Penn State System

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Abstract: Despite the documented benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the service industry, the service employees' fear of being replaced by AI continues to be a major concern as we transition to the Feeling Economy. This paper builds upon the Feeling Economy framework and the social comparison theory to examine how different service-related tasks (thinking vs feeling) distinctively impact the service employees' feelings and behavior. Five studies reveal that the presence of AI increases negative outcomes for employees engaging in thinking (vs. feeling) tasks due to its adverse effects on their perceived ability (i.e., relative performance). Findings further indicate that these detrimental effects only happen when service employees compare their abilities with those of AI. This research provides important theoretical and managerial implications, helping to mitigate AI's negative outcomes on employees' fear of replacement and reduced job performance.

Keywords: feeling economy; fear; job performance; services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-11-01
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Published in Journal of Service Research, 2022, 25 (4), pp.601 - 613. ⟨10.1177/10946705221104312⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05488128

DOI: 10.1177/10946705221104312

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