Consumer-perceived ethical issues of service robots in tourism and hospitality
Boyu Lin, Woojin Lee · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2024
COVID-19 accelerates service robots’ penetration in the tourism and hospitality industry, but ethics studies about service robots have been slow to engage in the literature. The ethics studies aim to improve the well-being of consumers by using service robots and limit possible ethical risks caused by the advancement of AI and robotics in service. This chapter aims to conceptualize the ethics of service robots and identify potential consumer-perceived ethical issues of service robots in tourism and hospitality. Ethical theories can be used to understand consumers’ ethical judgments toward the ethics of service robots. Owing to the ethics of AI and robotics, the ethical issues of service robots involve the features of service robots and service interactions, respectively. This chapter highlights the significance of the ethics of service robots during service delivery with consumers, contributing to business models for human-robot cooperation.