In the world’s first, a supermarket chain in Japan has implemented an artificial intelligence (AI) system to “assess and standardise” employees’ smiles. The AI system is called ‘Mr Smile’ and was developed by the Japanese technology company InstaVR. According to the supermarket chain, with the help of this technology, they will be able to accurately rate a shop assistant’s service attitude and improve customer satisfaction. This move has sparked debate about workplace harassment.
Japan Supermarket Chain Uses AI To Assess Staff Smiles
Japanese supermarket chain AEON has implemented an AI system to “assess and standardise” employees’ smiles. This has made them the first company in the world to use a smile-gauging AI system. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the company has started to use the technology to satisfy customers.
Called “Mr Smile,” this AI system has been developed by Japanese technology firm InstaVR. It evaluates over 450 factors before giving feedback. This includes facial expressions, voice volume, and the tone of greetings, to rate a shop assistant’s service attitude. To encourage staff to improve their attitude, the system even has game-like elements and scores.
As per an NDTV report, AEON first ran a trial of the system in eight stores. They worked with about 3,400 staff members for the trial. After that, the company found that service attitude improved by up to 1.6 times over a period of three months. According to AEON, they want to “standardise staff members’ smiles and satisfy customers to the maximum.”
Move Sparks Workplace Harassment Concerns
Mr Smile was launched on July 1 across AEON’s 240 stores in Japan, this initiative has sparked a workplace harassment debate in Japan. As per NDTV, there is social media outrage about this smile-gauging AI tech in the country. Japanese Netizens are saying that “forcing service industry workers” to smile as a standard is just another form of “customer and workplace harassment.” In another social media post, a Netizen said that smiles should be “heartfelt” and should not be “treated like a product.”
Asking employees to smile at work is definitely not something a company should forcefully implement on their staff. It’s a human emotion and one should not toy with it using AI. What are your two cents on this? Let us know in the comments!
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva (representative image)
For more such snackable content, interesting discoveries and the latest updates on food, travel and experiences in your city, download the Curly Tales App. Download HERE.