Ai in service marketing: ethical issues

• Autor(a) principal: Manzhos, Olena
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/48759
• topic: Ethical regulation; AI´s impact on autonomy; Nudging and manipulation; Privacy and oversight; Transparency and explanation; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

Recent literature identifies artificial intelligence (AI) as an essential component of the socio-economic growth of the 21st century. It has been employed in numerous industries, including autopilot navigation and healthcare evaluation. In the future, growing curiosity in artificial intelligence is expected to contribute to its widespread acceptance, leading to a more favourable and sustainable way of living and doing business while satisfying society's necessities. Moreover, artificial intelligence has the potential to generate additional global economic activity of around $13 trillion by 2030, or about 16 per cent higher cumulative GDP compared with today. Hence, the main goal of this research is to explore how ethics have been treated in service companies concerning the use of AI to influence consumers. For this purpose, as this is a qualitative study, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted using a sufficient sample of C-level managers from service-oriented companies who use AI in marketing. In order to investigate the manner in which managers assign ethics to artificial intelligence technology, this research focused on the idea of the valuation of ethics as a mechanism that is put into action via socio-material practices. This analysis draws upon Barad's (2003, 2007) conceptual framework.Results show the intricate nature of the ethical handling of AI inside service-oriented enterprises. It sheds light on two key aspects: the unwillingness to employ AI for consumer manipulation and the ethical considerations that emerge as a result. Additionally, it underscores the necessity for conducting additional study on the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence and the significance of directing the advancement of AI following ethical principles and values. Moreover, the study posits that establishing ethical practices by firms reduces the impact of profit incentives on the ethical considerations surrounding digital technology. In general, the ethical framework around the use of artificial intelligence in service marketing is developing, necessitating the establishment of globally acknowledged ethical principles pertaining to AI. Finally, several recommendations are given to service-oriented companies that want to treat ethics concerning the usage of AI.