Guest editorial for special issue – AI facets and industrial applications (Part 2)

For special issue – AI facets and industrial applications (Part 2)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping businesses, economic activities and society as a whole in the context of the current state of affairs by transforming human interactions with businesses, customers and employees within trade activities (Nosova et al., 2022), as well as AI-driven exchange relationships among various stakeholders and citizens (Loureiro et al., 2021). AI has become one of the most transformative and revolutionary technologies of our time (Shim et al., 2022). Its applications are diverse and wide-ranging, from facial recognition systems to autonomous vehicles, chatbots and personalized recommendation systems (Enholm et al., 2022). In industrial settings, AI is increasingly being used to optimize production processes, reduce costs and improve product quality (Javaid et al., 2022). Some of the key facets of AI include machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision and robotics, which enable AI systems to perform complex tasks with high accuracy and efficiency (Baduge et al., 2022). As the demand for intelligent automation continues to grow, the industrial applications of AI are poised to transform the way we live and work.

Academic studies on AI have emerged from a variety of academic and applied disciplines of study (Mariani et al., 2022). Social scientists have also been debating the moral and legal ramifications of AI in relation to aspects like privacy and security (Rodrigues, 2020). Despite the hopeful breakthroughs of AI in various sectors, many businesses find it difficult to effectively use (a mix of) these disruptive technologies to involve their stakeholders, including clients, staff, shareholders and society at large, in unique AI-enabled experiences (Kamalaldin, 2020), empower them in decision-making from a variety of angles, build brand relationships and link customers with one another (Ho and Chow, 2023). This special edition includes numerous researches reflecting the various facets of AI in management practices.

The first research paper titled “Augmented and virtual reality in apparel industry: a bibliometric review and future research agenda” aims to synthesize the extant literature on augmented reality and virtual reality in the apparel industry using bibliometric and network visualization techniques. This paper also highlights the existing gaps in the literature and sets out the future research trajectory.

Second research paper titled “AI-enables product purchase on Amazon: what are the consumers saying?” aims to identify the product attributes that influence customer satisfaction related to AI-enabled products with a strong forecast of growth. The study further adds evidence to literature on the experience of customers and identifies the attributes that lead to customer satisfaction and those that lead to dissatisfaction are essential for products that were launched recently during the pandemic.

Third paper titled “Effects of cognitive absorption on continuous use intention of AI-driven recommender systems in e-commerce” aims to determine the effect of the cognitive absorption dimensions, namely, focused immersion, temporal dissociation and curiosity independently on RSs continuous use intention.

The fourth paper in this issue, “Tourists’ post-adoption continuance intentions of chatbots: integrating task–technology fit model and expectation–confirmation theory,” investigated the factors triggering customers to continue to use chatbots in a travel planning context.

Next paper, i.e. the fifth paper of the special issue titled “Impact of COVID-19 and innovative ideas for a sustainable fashion supply chain in the future,” tried to explore innovative ideas for a sustainable fashion supply chain in the future by focusing on investigating the impacts of COVID-19 on the fashion supply chain and review sustainable supply chain.

Sixth paper titled “Investigating the impact of artificial intelligence on consumer’s purchase intention in e-retailing” aims to explore the factors affecting practical implacability of AI and its impact on consumers’ online purchase intention.

Seventh paper titled “Artificial intelligence in retail – a systematic literature review” presents a systematic literature review of academic peer-reviewed articles in English published between 2005 and 2021. The articles were reviewed based on the following features: research topic, conceptual and theoretical characterization, AI methods and techniques.

The last paper, i.e. the eighth paper titled “Exploring India’s Generation Z perspective on AI enabled internet banking services,” aims to analyze the comfort level and usage of AI-enabled banking services by Generation Z.