Frontline encounters of the AI kind: An evolved service encounter framework

Artificial intelligence (AI) is radically transforming frontline service encounters, with AI increasingly playing the role of employee or customer. Programmed to speak or write like a human, AI is poised to usher in a frontline service revolution. No longer will frontline encounters between customer and employee be simply human-to-human; rather, researchers must consider an evolved paradigm where each actor could be either human or AI. Further complicating this 2 × 2 framework is whether the human, either customer or employee, recognizes when they are interacting with a non-human exchange partner. Accordingly, we develop an evolved service encounter framework and, in doing so, introduce the concept of counterfeit service, interspecific service (AI-to-human), interAI service (AI-to-AI), and offer a research agenda focused on the implementation of AI in dyadic service exchanges.