Artificial intelligence in services: state of the art and future directions

This chapter provides an introduction to the rationale behind the need to write a Handbook on Artificial Intelligence Services. The chapter argues that the introduction of AI in knowledge services is still relatively new, and the question of how AI will transform such services remains still open, therefore the need to write this book. The chapter provides first an overview of the content of the book and then highlights future research directions. The structure of the chapter follows the structure of the book and includes four sections, each dealing with key aspects of AI in services: (1) AI and innovation in services; (2) AI and the service encounter; (3) AI and value creation; and (4) AI ethics, policies and regulations. In each section the different chapters are summarized and the subject of the section is introduced and discussed.