Mission of the Research Center

The research center aims to investigate and understand the transformative impact of disruptive technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-enabled service robots (sub-group), on society, organizations, and individuals. The goal is to integrate cross-disciplinary insights to advance knowledge on responsible AI and service robot implementation, guide public policy, influence teaching, and disseminate findings to the broader public. By focusing on responsibility, resilience, and respectfulness, the center aims to harmonize business objectives with societal needs, enhance sustainable growth, and promote equitable benefits of AI and service robots. As such, the center focuses also on human-centric implementation of these technologies.

Our people

Director:

Lorena Blasco-Arcas
Marketing (Madrid)

Hsin-Hsuan Meg Lee
Marketing (London)

AI Service Robot Subgroup

• Hector Gonzalez Jimenez Marketing (Madrid)

Permanent Faculty:

AI Service Robot Subgroup:

Researchers :

• Raga Teja Sudhams Kanaparthi, PhD Sustainability (Berlin)

Affiliated/visiting Faculty :

• Erik Hermann, Marketing (Berlin)

Potential external researchers - AI Service Robot Subgroup:

• Diego Costa Pinto (NOVA IMS Information Management School, Lisbon, Portugal)
  Associate Dean for Research, Director of the NOVA Marketing Analytics Lab
• Kentaro Watanabe (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology – AIST, Tokyo, Japan)
  Chief Senior Researcher and Team Leader
• Snehashish Banerjee (University of York, York, UK)
  Joint Head of People, Operations and Marketing Group
• Khaoula Akdim (CUNEF University, Madrid, Spain)
  Assistant Professor in Business Management – Marketing

Our Research Activities

The project's main objective is to consolidate a cluster of researchers specialized in the responsible implementation of emerging technologies, including AI and service robots, to leverage interdisciplinary research in this area. In our exploration of the impact of AI as a disruptive technology, we adopt the viewpoint established by de Ruyter et al. (2022), building upon the stewardship theory articulated by Hernandez (2008). This theory underscores the importance of balancing individual and organizational objectives for the collective benefit of society. This concept is particularly pertinent when considering the far-reaching effects of AI and the potential dynamics between the different system levels (individual, organizational, and societal) to achieve beneficial collective outcomes. Building on this framework, we focus on three key strategic pillars: responsibility, resilience, and respectfulness.

The impact of AI at the individual level

• Data Sensitivity and the Human Body: Investigating personal implications of AI, including data privacy after death and acceptance of embodied AI.
• Responsible AI maturity: Focusing on the competencies required for managing AI within organizations
• Top Executives' and Boards' Role in Responsible AI: Understanding the influence of leadership on AI strategies and ethical considerations within organizations.
• Impact of AI deployment in the workplace on the management of employees’ competence.
• Dynamic AI capabilities: Investigating organizational agility and the need to adapt to evolving technological landscapes.

The impact of AI at the organizational level

• AI in Stakeholder Communication: Analyzing how AI tools like chatbots are reshaping organizational communication strategies.
• Responsible AI maturity: Focusing on the competencies required for managing AI within organizations.
• Top Executives' and Boards' Role in Responsible AI: Understanding the influence of leadership on AI strategies and ethical considerations within organizations.
• Impact of AI deployment in the workplace on the management of employees’ competence.
• Dynamic AI capabilities: Investigating organizational agility and the need to adapt to evolving technological landscapes.

The impact of AI at the societal level

• Managing Tensions Between Business/Marketing and Social/Ethical Objectives: Addressing the broader societal implications of AI in balancing business goals with ethical and social responsibilities.
• Controversial Use of AI, AI Competency, and Ethical Implications: Exploring societal-level controversies and ethical challenges posed by AI, including issues like reinforcing stereotypes. Moreover, academia is challenged to design, offer, and scale academic programs to train new generations of responsible AI professionals.
• Impact of AI-enabled technologies on sustainable behavior.

Furthermore, within the AI Service Robot subgroup there are projects under development focused on, both, virtual AI as well as physically embodied AI (e.g. service robots). Some examples are:

• Can AI Robots Foster Social Inclusion in Hospitality? Exploring the Role of Immersive Augmentation
• Help please! Deriving social support from Geminoid DK, Pepper, and AIBO as companion robots
• When Do Smart Service Failures Threaten Self-Identity? How Artificial Intelligence Classification Experience Shapes Consumers' Self-Identity
• A cosmopolitan framework toward more ethical and bias free AI

Our Publications

Our Contributions To Debates