Japan’s AEON supermarket chain has introduced an AI system called “Mr Smile” to assess employee smiles and service attitudes, sparking debate about workplace harassment. The system analyzes facial expressions, speech tone, and greetings, with a goal of standardizing staff smiles to maximize customer satisfaction. While AEON claims service attitude improved by up to 1.6 times during a trial, concerns have been raised over potential customer harassment and the commodification of authentic smiles. This move is reminiscent of McDonald’s “Smile zero yen” campaign, highlighting the fine line between promoting good service and burdening employees. A supermarket in Fukuoka has taken a different approach, implementing an extra-slow checkout counter to cater to elderly and disabled customers, resulting in a surprising 10% increase in sales.
https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3271333/japan-supermarket-chain-uses-ai-gauge-staff-smiles-speech-tones-quality-service-push