Augmented or stunted hospitality workers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hospitality management scholars are optimistic that digital technologies will augment hospitality workers. They assess the effect of digital technologies depending on the strict separation of workers and digital technologies. Moreover, they mainly study how service robots can work alongside hospitality workers, the anxieties of workers’ replacement by digital technologies, and how digital technologies can augment hospitality workers. Most studies neglect that digital technologies can worsen hospitality work. This study criticises the lure of digital technologies in the field of hospitality management and argues that the use of contemporary artificial intelligence will reduce hospitality workers’ autonomy, skills, and social interactions.