𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗔𝗜) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀, 𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀

𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦

𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗔𝗜) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀, 𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀

𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹:
The Service Industries Journal

𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿:
Taylor & Francis Group

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲:
31 January 2027

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies are transforming service industries, including finance, healthcare, hospitality, retail, education, public services, and digital platforms. While AI-enabled systems such as chatbots, service robots, predictive analytics, and automated workflows offer greater efficiency, scalability, and personalization, they also raise significant ethical concerns regarding fairness, transparency, explainability, and accountability.

This Special Issue seeks to advance interdisciplinary insights into the ethical implications of AI and automation in service industries. It aims to examine how algorithmic bias, opaque decision-making processes, and unclear accountability mechanisms influence trust, service quality, organizational legitimacy, and societal well-being. The issue encourages research that embeds ethical principles into the design, governance, implementation, and evaluation of AI-enabled service systems.

𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Algorithmic bias and discrimination in service delivery
• Ethical design of AI-enabled service systems
• Transparency and explainability in automated service decisions
• Accountability and responsibility in human–AI service interactions
• AI ethics governance, regulation, and standards in service industries
• Trust, legitimacy, and customer perceptions of AI-driven services
• Ethical implications of service robots and conversational agents
• Human oversight and hybrid human–AI service models
• Data privacy, surveillance, and consent in digital service platforms
• Fairness and inclusion in AI-based personalization and targeting
• Responsible AI and ESG considerations in service organizations
• Cross-cultural and institutional perspectives on AI ethics in services
• Ethical failures, service recovery, and crisis communication involving AI
• Methodological advances for studying ethics in AI-enabled services

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗔𝗶𝗺𝘀

The Special Issue aims to:

• Deepen understanding of ethical risks and dilemmas associated with AI and automation in service industries
• Explore mechanisms for bias detection, mitigation, and governance in service algorithms
• Examine transparency, explainability, and accountability in AI-enabled service encounters
• Advance responsible, human-centered, and sustainable approaches to AI-driven service innovation

Both conceptual and empirical contributions are welcome, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, experimental, design science, and critical or reflexive approaches.

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

• Manuscripts should follow The Service Industries Journal author guidelines and be submitted through the journal's online submission system.
• Authors should select the Special Issue titled: Ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in service industries: Addressing algorithmic bias, opacity and unclear accountability mechanisms.
• All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer-review process in accordance with Taylor & Francis journal policies and standards.

𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀

• Full paper submission deadline: 31 January 2027
• First round of reviews: 31 March 2027
• Revised manuscript submission: 31 May 2027
• Final acceptance: 31 August 2027
• Expected publication: 30 November 2027

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀

• Mark Anthony Camilleri, University of Malta, Malta
Email: mark.a.camilleri@um.edu.mt

• Serena Strazzullo, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Email: serena.strazzullo@unina.it

• Raffaele Campo, University of Bari, Italy
Email: raffaele.campo@uniba.it

• Alhamzah F. Abbas, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Email: fadhilabbasalhamzah@utm.my

• Pasquale Del Vecchio, LUM University, Italy
Email: DelVecchio@lum.it

• Mark S. Rosenbaum, The Citadel, United States of America
Email: mrosenba@citadel.edu

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 — 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Visit official website of the publisher