Open research questions in AI in Service Interactions

What the literature leaves open

• The need for effective cross-cultural adaptation support for international students. The lack of understanding of the interrelationships among cultural cognition, cultural attitudes, and cultural anxiety. The absence of a framework for personalized assistance in cross-cultural adaptation.

  Exploring the role of generative AI in international students’ cross-cultural adaptation: A stimulus-organism-response framework approach · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies challenges including accuracy issues, ethical concerns, and risk of overreliance on AI tools. The study notes the need for students to use AI tools wisely, avoiding overuse or misuse.

  Predicting Online Instructional Design Students’ Intention to Use AI Tools: Value, Utility, and Self-Efficacy · 2026 · DOI

• Future studies could examine the actual use of AI tools in ID practice, - Future studies could investigate the impact of AI tools on student learning outcomes, - Future studies could explore the perspectives of ID students from different cultural backgrounds

  Predicting Online Instructional Design Students’ Intention to Use AI Tools: Value, Utility, and Self-Efficacy · 2026 · DOI

• Patients may encounter inaccurate or alarming content when searching for information online. The use of artificial intelligence chatbots may lead to misinformation or a lack of personalization in responses. The study highlights the risk of AI chatbots generating different and contradictory responses.

  The Use of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots by Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study · 2026 · DOI

• further studies are needed to verify the factual accuracy of AI outputs, - research on the use of AI chatbots in different clinical settings is needed

  The Use of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots by Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study · 2026 · DOI

• Common method bias was assessed using the full collinearity VIF approach and Harman's single-factor test. The study's cross-sectional design limits the interpretation of the results to statistical association and structural pattern, rather than confirmed causal sequence. The need to ensure the internal digital talent and digital human resource capability to deploy AI-based systems effectively.

  AI Marketing Capabilities and Purchase Intention in Indonesian E-Commerce: Mediating Effects of Platform Trust and AI Transparency, and a Strategic Marketing and Digital Human Resource Capability Perspective · 2026 · DOI

• The gap in understanding how personalization translates into purchase intention, particularly in the Indonesian context. Limited empirical attention to Platform Trust and AI Transparency as mediating mechanisms. The need to investigate the strategic marketing and digital human resource capability perspective on AI marketing investments.

  AI Marketing Capabilities and Purchase Intention in Indonesian E-Commerce: Mediating Effects of Platform Trust and AI Transparency, and a Strategic Marketing and Digital Human Resource Capability Perspective · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could investigate the long-term effects of organizational AI adoption on employees' job crafting behaviors. Future research could explore the role of AI knowledge sharing in moderating the effects of organizational AI adoption on job crafting behaviors in different contexts. Future research could examine the impact of organizational AI adoption on other employee outcomes, such as job satisfaction and well-being.

  How does organizational AI adoption affect employees’ job crafting behaviors? An approach-avoidance perspective · 2026 · DOI

• The gap lies in understanding the mechanisms through which organizational AI adoption influences employees' approach and avoidance job crafting behaviors. Prior research has focused on individual AI acceptance and AI adoption, but the organizational adoption of AI has received less attention. The study aims to address this gap by drawing on approach-avoidance motivational theory.

  How does organizational AI adoption affect employees’ job crafting behaviors? An approach-avoidance perspective · 2026 · DOI

• Investigating the long-term effects of GenAI on developers' productivity and well-being, - Examining the impact of GenAI on different types of tasks and projects, - Exploring the potential risks and challenges associated with over-reliance on GenAI

  Developers’ Experience with Generative AI Beyond Productivity Assessment – Insights from an Empirical Mixed-Methods Field Study · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of understanding of how developers interact with GenAI tools in their natural work environment. Limited attention to developers' well-being and interaction experiences with GenAI tools. The need to identify the factors that influence the effectiveness of GenAI tools in different tasks and contexts.

  Developers’ Experience with Generative AI Beyond Productivity Assessment – Insights from an Empirical Mixed-Methods Field Study · 2026 · DOI

• developing countries are plagued by resource constraints, - fragile formal institutions, - inadequate infrastructure due to limited technological development

  Artificial Intelligence and Innovation in Tourism SMEs: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review with a Constraint-Enabled Perspective · 2026 · DOI

• The effect of AI on SMEs' innovation performance in developing countries remains unknown. There is a gap in the discourse on the impact of AI in tourism, which has produced an increasingly limited and narrowly conceived perspective. The study identifies a scarcity of research on AI, innovation, and tourism in developing countries, particularly in the context of SMEs.

  Artificial Intelligence and Innovation in Tourism SMEs: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review with a Constraint-Enabled Perspective · 2026 · DOI

• The study notes the potential for common method bias (CMB) and takes steps to address it. The paper acknowledges the complexity of modeling high-order interactions and nonlinear dependencies in the data. The study recognizes the need to ensure the validity and reliability of the measurement framework.

  Chatbot-aided product purchases among Generation Z: the role of personality traits · 2025 · DOI

• Investigate the relationship between competitive climate and AI acceptance in other countries or industries, - Examine the impact of other leader characteristics on AI acceptance, - Explore the role of competitive climate in shaping employee attitudes towards other technologies

  Competitive organizational climate and artificial intelligence (AI) acceptance: the moderating role of leaders’ power construal · 2024 · DOI

• Little is known about the organizational factors that influence AI acceptance. There is a lack of understanding about the relationship between competitive organizational climate and AI acceptance among employees.

  Competitive organizational climate and artificial intelligence (AI) acceptance: the moderating role of leaders’ power construal · 2024 · DOI

• Technical and commercial limitations of the AI tools, - Perceived limitations of the AI tools compared with the competencies of experienced faculty, - Limited to the context of business management education in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

  Custom-Trained Large Language Models as Open Educational Resources: An Exploratory Research of a Business Management Educational Chatbot in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina · 2024 · DOI

• There is a pressing need to contribute to the research of widely available, specialized machine learning and its contribution to creating Open Educational Resources. The extant literature does not cover the topic of custom-trained LLMs in higher education.

  Custom-Trained Large Language Models as Open Educational Resources: An Exploratory Research of a Business Management Educational Chatbot in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina · 2024 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the current understanding of the effectiveness of anthropomorphism in household healthcare services. It highlights the need to investigate the relationship between anthropomorphic design and user sentiment. The study addresses the lack of research on the moderating effect of user technology anxiety on the relationship between anthropomorphic design and sustained use intention.

  Impact of Anthropomorphic Design on User Sentiment and Sustained Use Intention towards Household Healthcare · 2024 · DOI

• to to themes, comprehensive examination of including The main limitations of the present study relate, relatively small number of first, the participants, and second, the selective presentation of only two of the seven themes identified in the broader dataset.

  AI Technologies in Language Access: Attitudes Towards AI and the Human Value of Language Access Managers · 2026

• To fill this gap in the literature, we conducted an exploratory multi-method study to examine how EI/ECSE professionals perceive and utilize AI in their practice.

  “Nothing Can Replace Authentic Human Interaction”: EI/ECSE Professionals’ Perception of AI · 2026 · DOI

• While academic literature has provided rich insights into the role of discourse in the social construction of innovation, the framing processes that shape public understanding of what is ethically acceptable or problematic remain under-explored.

  From Hype to Benefiting All Mankind: A Discursive Analysis of Ethical Framing in Press Coverage of Chatbots · 2026 · DOI

• However, it remains unclear whether and how service robots’ empathy ability impacts unethical consumer behavior (UCB).

  Too guilty to be unethical: the impact of service robots’ empathy ability on unethical consumer behavior · 2026 · DOI

• However, research on AI-powered service innovation capability (AISIC) remains limited by the lack of validated measurement instruments.

  Development of the artificial intelligence powered service innovation capability scale · 2026 · DOI

• While service robots are increasingly integrated into tourism operations, limited research examines how leadership and technological innovation jointly promote sustainable outcomes.

  Biotech-enabled and neuroadaptive robotics in sustainable elderly tourism services: a delphi and PLS-SEM approach · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in AI in Service Interactions

• Opinion Paper: “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy · International Journal of Information Management · 2023 · 3,751 citations
• How artificial intelligence will change the future of marketing · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2019 · 2,369 citations
• The rise of social bots · Communications of the ACM · 2016 · 1,578 citations
• What if the devil is my guardian angel: ChatGPT as a case study of using chatbots in education · Smart Learning Environments · 2023 · 1,253 citations
• Living up to the chatbot hype: The influence of anthropomorphic design cues and communicative agency framing on conversational agent and company perceptions · Computers in Human Behavior · 2018 · 1,022 citations
• Consumers and Artificial Intelligence: An Experiential Perspective · Journal of Marketing · 2020 · 926 citations
• Chatbot e-service and customer satisfaction regarding luxury brands · Journal of Business Research · 2018 · 830 citations
• What makes an AI device human-like? The role of interaction quality, empathy and perceived psychological anthropomorphic characteristics in the acceptance of artificial intelligence in the service industry · Computers in Human Behavior · 2021 · 757 citations
• Artificial intelligence (AI) applications for marketing: A literature-based study · International Journal of Intelligent Networks · 2022 · 742 citations
• Artificial Intelligence in Utilitarian vs. Hedonic Contexts: The “Word-of-Machine” Effect · Journal of Marketing · 2020 · 668 citations

Most recent work

• How does organizational AI adoption affect employees’ job crafting behaviors? An approach-avoidance perspective · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
• AI companions and subjective well-being: Moderation by social connectedness and loneliness · Technology in Society · 2026
• Biased AI writing assistants shift users’ attitudes on societal issues · Science Advances · 2026
• Artificial Intelligence and the Psychology of Human Connection · Perspectives on Psychological Science · 2026
• Exploring service innovation archetypes of generative artificial intelligence in tourism: Integrating the views of tourists and tourism technology entrepreneurs · Tourism Management · 2026
• Beyond Substitution: How Teacher Interpersonal Behaviours Empower Students to Communicate With AI —A Dual‐Mediation Model of Enjoyment and Trust · European Journal of Education · 2026
• Large language models pass a standard three-party Turing test · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2026
• Addressing loneliness by AI chatbot: a qualitative study of empty-nest elderly · BMC Public Health · 2026
• Extending the UTAUT Model: The role of cognitive flexibility in AI adoption in higher education · Acta Psychologica · 2026
• Artificial Intelligence in Brand Communication: A Comprehensive Literature Review and Research Outlook · International Journal of Consumer Studies · 2026

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