Value Co-Creation in Smart Services: A Functional Affordances Perspective on Smart Personal Assistants

In the realm of smart services, smart personal assistants (SPAs) have become a popular medium for value co-creation between service providers and users. The market success of SPAs is largely based on their innovative material properties, such as natural language user interfaces, machine learning-powered request handling and service provision, and anthropomorphism. In different combinations, these properties offer users entirely new ways to intuitively and interactively achieve their goals and thus co-create value with service providers. But how does the nature of the SPA shape value co-creation processes? In this paper, we look through a functional affordances lens to theorize about the effects of different types of SPAs (i.e., with different combinations of material properties) on users’ value co-creation processes. Specifically, we collected SPAs from research and practice by reviewing scientific literature and web resources, developed a taxonomy of SPAs’ material properties, and performed a cluster analysis to group SPAs of a similar nature. We then derived 2 general and 11 cluster-specific propositions on how different material properties of SPAs can yield different affordances for value co-creation. With our work, we point out that smart services require researchers and practitioners to fundamentally rethink value co-creation as well as revise affordances theory to address the dynamic nature of smart technology as a service counterpart

How to Make chatbots productive – A user-oriented implementation framework

Many organizations are pursuing the implementation of chatbots to enable automation of service processes. However, previous research has highlighted the existence of practical setbacks in the implementation of chatbots in corporate environments. To gain practical insights on the issues related to the implementation processes from several perspectives and stages of deployment, we conducted semi-structured interviews with developers and experts of chatbot development. Using qualitative content analysis and based on a review of literature on human computer interaction (HCI), information systems (IS), and chatbots, we present an implementation framework that supports the successful deployment of chatbots and discuss the implementation of chatbots through a user-oriented lens. The proposed framework contains 101 guiding questions to support chatbot implementation in an eight-step process. The questions are structured according to the people, activity, context, and technology (PACT) framework. The adapted PACT framework is evaluated through expert interviews and a focus group discussion (FGD) and is further applied in a case study. The framework can be seen as a bridge between science and practice that serves as a notional structure for practitioners to introduce a chatbot in a structured and user-oriented manner

An investigation of conversational artificial intelligence platforms (caip) in the banking/finance industry - practical and innovative future recommendations in the form of artificial intelligence

The following thesis will focus on the general topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The main purpose of this work is to investigate how generally AI is being implemented and developed in modern times. Additionally, it examines CAIP (conversational artificial intelligence technologies) within the banking industry. Through a literature review, the implementation and innovation of such technologies and the impact they have within the financial sector are investigated. The examination is extended by expert interviews from leading companies. These interviews discuss industry practices and innovative ideas that contributes a different perspective on the conversational artificial intelligence features in the banking industry

Intelligent Conversational Agents in Mental Healthcare Services: A Thematic Analysis of User Perceptions

Background: The emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Conversational Agents (CA) capable of delivering evidence-based psychotherapy presents a unique opportunity to solve longstanding issues such as social stigma and demand-supply imbalance associated with traditional mental health care services. However, the emerging literature points to several socio-ethical challenges which may act as inhibitors to the adoption in the minds of the consumers. We also observe a paucity of research focusing on determinants of adoption and use of AI-based CAs in mental healthcare. In this setting, this study aims to understand the factors influencing the adoption and use of Intelligent CAs in mental healthcare by examining the perceptions of actual users. Method: The study followed a qualitative approach based on netnography and used a rigorous iterative thematic analysis of publicly available user reviews of popular mental health chatbots to develop a comprehensive framework of factors influencing the user’s decision to adopt mental healthcare CA. Results: We developed a comprehensive thematic map comprising of four main themes, namely, perceived risk, perceived benefits, trust, and perceived anthropomorphism, along with its 12 constituent subthemes that provides a visualization of the factors that govern the user’s adoption and use of mental healthcare CA. Conclusions: Insights from our research could guide future research on mental healthcare CA use behavior. Additionally, it could also aid designers in framing better design decisions that meet consumer expectations. Our research could also guide healthcare policymakers and regulators in integrating this technology into formal healthcare delivery systems. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol12/iss2/1

Exploring artificial intelligence adoption in public organizations: a comparative case study

Despite the enormous potential of artificial intelligence (AI), many public organizations struggle to adopt this technology. Simultaneously, empirical research on what determines successful AI adoption in public settings remains scarce. Using the technology organization environment (TOE) framework, we address this gap with a comparative case study of eight Swiss public organizations. Our findings suggest that the importance of technological and organizational factors varies depending on the organization’s stage in the adoption process, whereas environmental factors are generally less critical. Accordingly, this study advances our theoretical understanding of the specificities of AI adoption in public organizations throughout the different adoption stages

Be a Miracle - Designing Conversational Agents to Influence Users’ Intention Regarding Organ Donation

The increasing need for organ donations remains a worldwide challenge as transplant waiting lists grow and donation rates persist at constant levels. The increasing popularity of conversational agents (CAs) has prompted new strategies for educating and persuading individuals to adjust their cognitive and behavioral beliefs and become donors. However, how CAs should be designed to modify uninformed users’ intention to donate remains unclear. Against this background, we conducted an online experiment (N=134) to examine the impact of a human-like CA design on users\u27 intention to become organ donors. Based on the three-factor theory of anthropomorphism and the elaboration likelihood model, we derive three theoretical mechanisms to understand the influence of a CAs human-like design on users’ intention to donate. The findings show that perceived anthropomorphism does not directly impact persuasion and empathy but is mediated via perceived usefulness to influence the intention to donate

Combining low-code development with ChatGPT to novel no-code approaches: a focus-group study

Low-code tools are a trend in software development for business solutions due to their agility and ease of use. There are a certain number of vendors with such solutions. Still, in most Western countries, there is a clear need for the existence of greater quantities of certified and experienced professionals to work with those tools. This means that companies with more resources can attract and maintain those professionals, whilst other smaller organizations must rely on an endless search for this scarce resource. We will present and validate a model designed to transform ChatGPT into a low-code developer, addressing the demand for a more skilled human resource solution. This innovative tool underwent rigorous validation via a focus group study, engaging a panel of highly experienced experts. Their invaluable insights and feedback on the proposed model were systematically gathered and meticulously analysed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Can you help me scale? A Systematic Analysis of Scaling Capabilities of Conversational Agents for Digital Services

Today’s servitized and digitalized society has significant implications for the economical system as value creation increasingly shifts towards digital services. Driven by different factors, service providers have been enabled to scale up their businesses. One of these factors is artificial intelligence, which enabled many novel technological artifacts like conversational agents (CA). These human-like AI-driven artifacts open new possibilities and channels for service providers to create value, or to scale up their business even further. However, while we witness the results of that everyday, what do we really know about scalability of services and the role of CAs therein? Therefore, we conduct an analysis of service research and popular CAs to determine the status quo and highlight opportunities for scaling services with CAs. We contribute to theory by clarifying the meaning of scalability in combination with CAs and support practitioners by providing an overview about how companies successfully scale their CAs

Chatbot de Suporte para Plataforma de Marketing Multicanal

E-goi is an organization which provides automated multichannel marketing possibilities. Given its system’s complexity, it requires a not so smooth learning curve, which means that sometimes costumers incur upon some difficulties which directs them towards appropriate Costumer Support resources. With an increase in the number of users, these Costumer Support requests are somewhat frequent and demand an increase in availability in Costumer Support channels which become inundated with simple, easily-resolvable requests. The organization idealized the possibility of automating significant portion of costumer generated tickets with the possibility of scaling to deal with other types of operations. This thesis aims to present a long-term solution to that request with the development of a chatbot system, fully integrated with the existing enterprise modules and data sources. In order to accomplish this, prototypes using several Chatbot management and Natural Language Processing frameworks were developed. Afterwards, their advantages and disadvantages were pondered, followed by the implementation of its accompanying system and testing of developed software and Natural Language Processing results. Although the developed overarching system achieved its designed functionalities, the master’s thesis could not offer a viable solution for the problem at hand given that the available data could not provide an intent mining model usable in a real-world context.A E-goi é uma organização que disponibiliza soluções de marketing digital automatizadas e multicanal. Dada a complexidade do seu Sistema, que requer uma curva de aprendizagem não muito suave, o que significa que os seus utilizadores por vezes têm dificuldades que os levam a recorrer aos canais de Apoio ao Cliente. Com um aumento de utilizadores, estes pedidos de Apoio ao Cliente tornam-se frequentes e requerem um aumento da disponibilidade nos canais apropriados que ficam inundados de pedidos simples e de fácil resolução. A organização idealizou a possibilidade de automatizar uma porção significativa de tais pedidos, podendo escalar para outro tipo de operações. Este trabalho de mestrado visa apresentar uma proposta de solução a longo prazo para este problema. Pretende-se o desenvolvimento de um sistema de chatbots, completamente integrado com o sistema existente da empresa e variadas fontes de dados. Para este efeito, foram desenvolvidos protótipos de várias frameworks para gestão de chatbots e de Natural Language Processing, ponderadas as suas vantagens e desvantagens, implementado o sistema englobante e realizados planos de testes ao software desenvolvido e aos resultados de Natural Language Processing. Apesar do sistema desenvolvido ter cumprido as funcionalidades pelas quais foi concebido, a tese de mestrado não foi capaz de obter uma solução viável para o problema dado que com os dados disponibilizados não foi possível produzir um modelo de deteção de intenções usável num contexto real