The introduction of an artificial intelligence system named “Mr Smile” by Japanese supermarket chain AEON to evaluate and standardize employee smiles has sparked discussion about workplace norms and the morality of employing technology to control emotions in customer service roles.
Mr. Smile AI From AEON
The “Mr Smile” AI system was created by the Japanese technology company InstaVR. It assesses more than 450 aspects of employee behavior, such as welcome tones, voice loudness, and facial expressions. The method is intended to optimize customer pleasure and standardize employee smiles throughout 240 AEON supermarkets nationwide. Over the course of three months, a trial ran in eight stores with 3,400 staff is said to have boosted service attitude by up to 1.6 times. The AI uses elements of a game to motivate employees to raise their scores; this is in line with a larger Japanese trend of leveraging technology to improve customer service.
The AI Development Of InstaVR
The advanced artificial intelligence system “Mr Smile” was created by the Japanese technology company InstaVR to evaluate and rate the level of customer service. The system evaluates more than 450 aspects of employee behavior, such as greeting tones, voice loudness, and facial expressions, using cutting-edge speech and facial recognition technology.
The adoption of AI solutions by Japanese retail firms to improve customer experiences and standardize service quality across numerous locations is a developing trend that this creative approach highlights.
Objectives And Results
The principal aim of the AI smile-tracking system’s implementation is to augment consumer contentment by guaranteeing uniform, amiable service throughout AEON’s retail outlets. The corporation wants to make the retail environment more inviting by standardizing employee smiles and demeanor. Promising outcomes emerged from the system’s trial run in eight stores: over the course of three months, service attitude was said to have improved by up to 1.6 times. This result implies that the AI-driven strategy might be successful in helping AEON reach its objective of increasing customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, the system’s inclusion of game-like components is intended to encourage employees to raise their ratings, which could result in a more engaged and satisfied client base.
Ethics And Harassment Issues
Opponents contend that requiring uniform grins via artificial intelligence (AI) programs such as “Mr Smile” may increase worker stress and be a factor in “kasu-hara,” a type of client harassment common in Japan’s service sector. The largest union in Japan, UA Zensen, conducted a study with 30,000 service workers, and over half of them said they had been harassed in this way. The ethical ramifications of utilizing technology to compel emotional labor have drawn criticism, as it may violate workers’ rights to confidentiality and genuine self-expression at work.