ChatGPT

A lot of people are asking me for my opinion of ChatGPT these days. Here is what I am telling them:

(1) What I think – I enjoy using it
I am really enjoying using it – even though it is imperfect – it is a useful cognitive tool that makes a lot of mistakes, but it will get better over time. I have to spend a lot of time checking assertions to determine if they are actually true or not (see addendum below). That is one of its biggest weaknesses. However, it will get better over time.

(2) Can it be viewed as a virus? See reference [1]
Yes. A virus spreads, mutates, and can cause harm. So yes, in some ways it is like a virus. However, people can adapt to viruses. Think of it more like a bacteria. Some are harmful, and some are helpful – and in fact we would not live long without all the helpful bacteria in our body. To deal with complex urgent problems, we need better tools – and ChatGPT-like systems will certainly get better over time (less misinformation generated from inferior models), and people will adapt to the negative parts (harms), while embracing the positive parts (benefits).

(3) Should OpenAI have released ChatGPT?
Yes, AI will continue getting better, and the world needs to ‘upskill with AI’ (see reference [2]) – and get prepared. Future generations will have 100 digital workers working for them, and they need to be able to imagine a worthy future to be collectively working towards with AI/cognitive tools, assistants, collaborators, coaches, and eventually cognitive mediators (trusted to negotiate contracts on your behalf) (see reference [3]). Will bad things happen along the way as well?. Yes, that is true of all technologies – the potential for harm and good are always both there. I want to live in a world where we have harnessed AI primarily for its benefits, while mitigating the potential harms. Yes, regulations have arrived, and more will come in time as more cases of harm appear. Unfortunately, we are not smart enough to know the future as Kedrosky mentioned (see reference [1]).

(4) What is ChatGPT? A ‘humanity-level intelligence test’
I use ChatGPT to work on problems that are important to me. More broadly, I see ChatGPT as a ‘humanity-level intelligence test.’ Millions of people are already fantastic at generating misinformation using incorrect or outdated models of the world. We need better models. That is the theme in my recently co-authored book with Maglio, Vargo, and Warg – ‘Service in the AI Era’ (see reference [4]) – that we need betters models of the world (science), better models in people’s heads (logics), better models of organizations (architectures, including businesses, universities, cities, nations), and last but not least better AI models. We also need humanity-centered design to build a better world (see reference [5]). Yes, I see this as continuing to evolve all disciplines that are on a transdiscipliny journey, including the emerging transdiscipline of service science (see reference [6]).

(5) What do I recommend for the future? Learn to invest wisely and systematically
Try ChatGPT, and think of it today as a cognitive muse (see reference [7]), that will eventually become a useful cognitive tool, assistant, collaborator, coach, and finally mediator (see reference [3]). Overall, humanity needs to learn to invest in improved win-win interaction and change processes (service innovations) (see pages 45-54 in “Service in the AI Era” – reference [4]). On the current trajectory with increasing AI capabilities, we can get there by having “AI/digital twins” of all responsible actors (people, businesses, universities, cities, nations, etc.) that both give and get service daily, and try to invest in a positive future. This will allow calculating benefits and harms better than we can do today. As individuals adopt better strategies based on better models, collectively the future is shaped with better models. All models are wrong, but some are useful. Better models are more useful for shaping a positive future. This will allow shaping the future (not predicting it – that is impossible) better than we can today – shaping the future with more benefits and fewer harms – more good days of service for more people, and fewer bad days of service for just a few people.

(6) What do I recommend for today? Spend one hour ‘upskilling with AI’
To spend one hour ‘upskilling with AI,’ I recommend watching some social media and readings – see these YouTubes and Tweets (see references [8], [9], [10], [11], and [12]). Remember ChatGPT-types systems are a mirror of the information people share with each other daily. With better models (science, logic, architecture, AI) the quality of information sharing can potentially increase substantially in the future.

Hope this perspective is helpful to some readers. -Jim

Addendum

Spohrer: “Please describe how AI systems, such as ChatGPT that generate text responses to prompts, can help users evaluate fact from fiction, and well-sourced opinions from non-expert influencer opinions.”

ChatGPT: “AI systems such as ChatGPT are trained to generate text responses based on a given prompt. In the context of helping users evaluate fact from fiction and well-sourced opinions from non-expert influencer opinions, ChatGPT could be used to generate responses that highlight the credibility of a particular source or piece of information. For example, if a user were to ask ChatGPT whether a certain statement was true or false, ChatGPT could generate a response that indicates whether the statement is supported by evidence or whether it is merely an opinion. Additionally, ChatGPT could be used to generate responses that provide information about the credentials and expertise of a particular person or organization, which could help users determine the reliability of their opinions.”

Spohrer: “Provide additional feedback: This response is very helpful. In fact it addresses the key weakness that I see in ChatGPT. Furthermore, this type of response annotation would make a useful sidebar for many responses. See more thoughts here: https://service-science.info/archives/6309”

For those interested in exploring some of the dangers inherent in powerful AI technologies, see reference [13]. In [13], Marcus summarizes three key problems with these types of systems, and proposes four remedies that should be explore. The fourth remedy seems very important to me – build better AI to verify truth. For more examples of misinformation (old information, made-up information, etc.) see reference [14]. Nevertheless, with the help of [13] and [14] to keep our eyes wide open about potential harms, Foundational AI models and systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which achieved 1 million users in the first five days of its release to the general public, seem to be at or near a tipping point of being generally useful to people across a wide range of industries, enabling ‘the possibility of human-machine hybrid work’ [15].

References

[1] BiblioL2022 Loizos C (2022) Is ChatGPT a ‘virus that has been released into the wild’? Government & Policy. TechCrunch. URL: https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/09/is-chatgpt-a-virus-that-has-been-released-into-the-wild/ Quotes: “Paul Kedrosky isn’t an educator per se. He’s an economist, venture capitalist and MIT fellow who calls himself a “frustrated normal with a penchant for thinking about risks and unintended consequences in complex systems.” But he is among those who are suddenly worried about our collective future, tweeting yesterday: “[S]hame on OpenAI for launching this pocket nuclear bomb without restrictions into an unprepared society.” Wrote Kedrosky, “I obviously feel ChatGPT (and its ilk) should be withdrawn immediately. And, if ever re-introduced, only with tight restrictions.” We talked with him yesterday about some of his concerns, and why he thinks OpenAI is driving what he believes is the “most disruptive change the U.S. economy has seen in 100 years,” and not in a good way.”; “I heard from a colleague at UCLA who told me they have no idea what to do with essays at the end of the current term, where they’re getting hundreds per course and thousands per department, because they have no idea anymore what’s fake and what’s not. So to do this so casually — as someone said to me earlier today — is reminiscent of the so-called [ethical] white hat hacker who finds a bug in a widely used product, then informs the developer before the broader public knows so the developer can patch their product and we don’t have mass devastation and power grids going down. This is the opposite, where a virus has been released into the wild with no concern for the consequences.”;

[2] BiblioS2022 Spohrer J (2022) The Future of AI and IA: A Service Science Perspective. Presentation to India’s AIMA Delegation at Berkeley on Monday November 28, 2022. URL: https://www.slideshare.net/spohrer/spohrer-aima-20221128-v8pptx Quotes: ” Still haven’t found a good way to include these materials from Frank, Thompson, Davis, and Zyer in my standard stump speech about the future of AI and IA (Intelligence Augmentation – AKA “Learning to Invest in Upskilling with AI”)  which is the main message of my recent book “Service in the AI Era” (pages 45-54).”; “The Future of AI and IA: A Service Science Perspective: This talk explores the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligence Augmentation (IA). IA can initially be thought of as people “upskilling with AI” tools.  In this talk, after a preamble on understanding “value” in the world today, a roadmap for solving AI is proposed. Second, an approach to measuring IA is suggested. Finally, the importance of trust, purpose, and human values are examined as “reality” is extended for populations of evolving service system entities learning to invest systematically in becoming better future versions of themselves. For example,  AI, both service robot automation and service augmentation platforms, are poised to improve service productivity, quality, compliance, sustainable innovation, resilience, equity and inclusion for under-served populations. Service is defined as the application of knowledge for the benefit of another. Service innovations improve interaction and change processes in business and society. However, to achieve these outcomes and create value with AI, responsible actors (people, businesses, governments, universities – AKA service system entities) must learn to invest wisely in becoming better future versions of themselves augmented by their AI digital twin. Learning to invest systematically in upskilling with AI can accelerate both value cocreation and capability coelevation in a virtual cycle of responsible actors’ improved win-win interaction and change processes. Service innovations improve win-win interaction and change processes in business and society, but require learning to invest systematically and wisely in shifting conflict and fear to understanding and more than coexistence to collaboration. However, great risks must also be avoided – as benefits for some may cause harm to others. ”

[3] BiblioS2017 Spohrer J, Siddike MAK (2017) The future of cognitive systems: tool, assistant, collaborator, coach, mediator. In Augmented Intelligence: Smart Systems and the Future of Work and Learning (New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies), Editor D. Araya. Peter Lang Publisher. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Augmented-Intelligence-Learning-Literacies-Epistemologies/dp/1433133334 Quotes: “Chapter Abstract – Abstract: In this chapter we explore the future of cognitive systems that progress from tool to assistant to collaborator to coach to mediator over time, augmenting both cognitive and social intelligence.  We argue that in the decades to come most people will use cognitive mediators to boost win-win interactions with others.  Furthermore, we argue that future innovation will be driven by people with a T-shaped skillset and mindset, who with the help of their cognitive mediators, know how to rapidly rebuild socio-technical systems from scratch.  T-shaped professionals with cognitive mediators will be expert at people-centered system redesign thinking, and have a deep understanding of service science – the science of value co-creation and capability co-elevation.”; “Book – Where the Agricultural Revolution harnessed domesticated animals for pastoral farming, and the Industrial Revolution leveraged machines for factory production, so today the Computational Revolution is advancing computers to augment human intelligence. Indeed, many now argue that the promise of exascale computing and the slow migration towards a computational society may represent a new threshold in human history. This “transcension” of earlier stages of tool-mediated work and learning foreshadows a momentous change in the kinds of cities we might build, the kinds of medicine we might practice, and the kinds of education we might provide. What is perhaps most surprising about the current Computational Revolution, however, is its expanding reach. The question that many now ask is “what is the trajectory of this human-machine symbiosis?” It would appear that we are on the cusp of a sea change in our capacities to augment human intelligence. But what is the future of work and learning? Will augmented intelligence help us in transforming a waning industrial society? These are the kinds of questions that we explore in Augmented Intelligence: Smart Systems and the Future of Work and Learning.”

[4] BiblioS2022 BiblioS2022 Spohrer J, Maglio PP, Vargo SL, Warg M (2022) Service in the AI Era: Science, Logic, and Architecture Perspectives. Business Expert Press. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Service-AI-Era-Architecture-Perspectives/dp/1637423039/ Quotes: “Are you prepared for the coming AI era? AI advances will profoundly change your daily service interactions, so this book provides readers with a necessary understanding of service, the application of resources (e.g., knowledge) for the benefit of another. In just minutes, you can learn about today’s use of early-stage AI for automation and augmentation, and essential elements of service science, service-dominant (S-D) logic, and Service Dominant Architecture (SDA). Ultimately improved service for all is possible with human-level AI and digital twins – but requires investing wisely in better models: Better models of the world both complex natural and social systems (science), better mental-models in people to improve interactions (logic), better cultural and structural models of organizations to improve change (architecture), and better trusted and responsible AI models. The service innovation community studies and builds better models to improve interactions and change in business and society. The book challenges all responsible actors – individuals, businesses, universities, and governments – to invest systematically and wisely to upskill with AI (the X+AI vision). The service innovation community is a growing transdiscipline harnessing all disciplines to become better T-shaped professionals. Extensive end notes, bibliography, and index are provided.”;

[5] BiblioN2023 Norman DA (2023) Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered
URL: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Better-World-Meaningful-Sustainable/dp/0262047950 Quotes: “Human behavior brought our world to the brink, human behavior can save us. The world is a mess. Our dire predicament, from collapsing social structures to the climate crisis, has been millennia in the making and can be traced back to the erroneous belief that the earth’s resources are infinite. The key to change, says Don Norman, is human behavior, covered in the book’s three major themes: meaning, sustainability, and humanity-centeredness. Emphasize quality of life, not monetary rewards; restructure how we live to better protect the environment; and focus on all of humanity. The book presents an eye-opening diagnosis of where we’ve gone wrong and a clear prescription for making things better. Norman proposes a new way of thinking, one that recognizes our place in a complex global system where even simple behaviors affect the entire world. He identifies the economic metrics that contribute to the harmful effects of commerce and manufacturing and proposes a recalibration of what we consider important in life. His experience as both a scientist and business executive gives him the perspective to show how to make these changes while maintaining a thriving economy. Let the change begin with this book before it’s too late”;

[6] BiblioW2022 WladawskyBerger I (2022) The Current State of Service Science. URL: https://blog.irvingwb.com/blog/2022/12/reflections-on-the-current-state-of-service-science.html Quotes: “On October 17, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) conducted an online forum on Service Systems Engineering in the Era of Human-Centered AI. “With AI advances poised to drive service system productivity and quality – similar to the way previous generations of technology revolutionized agriculture and manufacturing productivity and quality – it is time to take stock for industry-academic-and-government stakeholders on this important topic,” wrote the NAE in its website.”; “Sometime in 2016 I had an interesting conversation with analysts from an IT research organization who were preparing a report on the state of service science. They noted that we were hearing quite a bit less about service science in those days compared to 5 or 10 years earlier. Was it because we had become tired of the subject and moved on to other areas of innovation?”; “For example, in their recent book Service in the AI Era, Jim Spohrer, Paul Maglio, Stephen Vargo, and Marcus Warg wrote that “Service is quickly becoming the central concept of our time, as service offerings become infused with advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and scale to new levels of quality, productivity, compliance, and sustainable innovation. Throughout history, scientific revolutions have been launched when new tools make possible new measurements and observations, e.g., the telescope, the microscope, spectrometers, DNA sequencers. Our new big data tools have now been ushering an information-based scientific revolution, helping us extract insights from the huge amounts of data we’ve been collecting by applying tried-and-true scientific methods, that is, empirical and measurable evidence subject to testable explanations and predictions.”

[7] BiblioF2022 Flux Collective (2022) A muse, rather than an assistant. The FLUX Review, Ep. 64 August 18th, 2022. FLUX Review. URL: https://read.fluxcollective.org/p/64 Quotes: “A muse, rather than an assistant. With large-language-model-powered tools taking early adopters’ attention by storm, we are inclined to pause and consider the potential future uses of these tools. Some of them already exhibit remarkable abilities. Still, rough edges show up quickly: faces melt, sentences stop making sense, and so on. We are still in the early stages of understanding how to best use these tools. As we continue to explore, it is important to keep in mind both the potential benefits and their potential risks. However, we have found one use that already seems intriguing: a source of inspiration. Especially in the busy Midjourney community, the creative vibe is nearly palpable. People riff on each other’s creations, showcase their best, and most interestingly, show fascinating new uses of the tool’s output.”;

[8] BiblioF2022 Frank T (2022) Notion AI is Here: 10 Ways to Use This Powerful New Tool URL: https://youtu.be/0DIn0Ws9yTE Quotes: “Notion just released a suite of AI tools that live directly inside the Notion app. Today I’ll show you 10 amazing examples of what these artificial intelligence tools can do – from generating blog posts and comparison tables to even writing code! Learn more about Notion AI and join the waitlist: https://www.notion.so/product/ai”; “Written version of the video: https://thomasjfrank.com/notion-ai-guide/”

[9] BiblioT2022 Thompson AD (2022)  Devoxx Keynote – Artificial Intelligence: You Are Here – Alan D Thompson (12/Oct/2022. URL: https://youtu.be/D3tTsoX02d8 Quotes: “On 20221015 – 6,303 views  Oct 13, 2022  The Memo: https://lifearchitect.ai/memo/ Read more: https://lifearchitect.ai/ https://lifearchitect.ai/models/ A look at Transformer, RoBERTa, GPT-3, Pathways + PaLM,  Chinchilla, Google Imagen, Google Parti, NUWA-Infinity, Google Imagen Video, and much more… Dr Alan D. Thompson is a world expert in artificial intelligence (AI), specialising in the augmentation of human intelligence, and advancing the evolution of ‘integrated AI’. Alan’s applied AI research and visualisations are featured across major international media, including citations in the University of Oxford’s debate on AI Ethics in December 2021. https://lifearchitect.ai/”;

[10] BibloD2022 Davis T (2022) TL;DR 11 free AI tools that will make you unstoppable. URL: https://twitter.com/tessardavis https://twitter.com/TessaRDavis/status/1595749323995840513 Quotes: “TL;DR 11 free AI tools that will make you unstoppable.• #1: Super Meme
• #2: Hotpot
• #3: Dall•E 2
• #4: Sembly
• #5: Browse AI
• #6: Posied
• #7: Lalal
• #8: Magic Eraser
• #9: Synthesia
• #10: Soundraw
• #11: Replika”;
“#1: Make custom memes with Super Meme.
Lacking meme inspiration?
http://supermeme.ai
• Write a sentence
• Describe an emotion
• Upload your own image if you want
Your own custom meme in 2 minutes.”;
“#2: Restore old pictures with Hotpot.
Have an old photo you’d like to improve?
Upload it to http://hotpot.ai
It’ll:
• Remove scratches
• Sharpen images
• Repair gaps
Transforms your damaged photos.”;
“#3: Create amazing images with Dall•E 2
Have an idea in your head for an image?
http://openai.com
• Type in the description
• Be as specific as you can
• It’ll search for existing images
• Or generate new ones for you now
The AI stock photographer you always wanted”;
“#4: Easily take notes with Sembly.
Need meeting notes?
http://Sembly.ai
• Generates meeting summaries
• Automates your minutes
• Shares with your team
Integrates across all platforms.”;
“#5: Check out your competition with Browse Ai.
Need info on your rivals?
http://Browse.ai
• Scrape posts from Medium
• Get lists of YouTube videos
• Extract company info from LinkedIn
Make your research easy.”;
“#6: Improve your public speaking skills with Poised.
Are you a nervous presenter?
Get coaching with http://posied.com
• Record
• Get feedback
• Track your progress
Watch your skills improve.”;
“#7: Separate audio tracks with Lalal.
Have a music track you want to separate?
http://lalal.ai
Just upload the track
It extracts the vocals and separates each instrument.
No need for fancy editing tools.”;
“#8: Edit out parts of photos with Magic Eraser.
Have a great photo but with something annoying in the background?
Remove it easily:
http://Magiceraser.io
• Upload the photo
• Select the part you don’t want
• Press ‘erase’
And voila. It’s gone.”;
“#9: Create professional videos with Synthesia.
Need a video quickly?
http://synthesia.io
• Add your text
• Use templates
• Edit it as needed
You’ll get an AI-generated video within minutes.”;
“#10: Create unique music with Soundraw.
Need some music for your video?
http://soundraw.io
• Choose your mood
• Choose the genre
• Choose a length
• Edit if needed
Now you’ve got your own AI music.”;
“#11: Create a new friend with Replika.
Feeling lonely?
http://replika.com
• Build your own AI
• The more you chat the more they learn
• Express yourself and build a human-AI bond
Is this the future?”;

[11] BiblioZ2022 Zyer E (2022) If you’re not using AI, you’re losing out.8 mindblowing AI tools (you can use today) that will save you hours. Twitter Eyisha @eyishazyer. URL: https://twitter.com/eyishazyer/status/1597573909104427009 https://twitter.com/eyishazyer/status/1597573909104427009?s=20&t=v3okqE9sQNZTEmJocroSTQ Quotes: “”;”1. @lexdotpage
Unlock your best writing with Lex.
Any time you don’t know how to continue your text, type +++, and Lex continues for you.
It also helps generate titles for your texts!
“;
“2. @runwayml
The runway is the content creation suite of the future. It has magical AI tools like:
– change images with text descriptions
– remove objects in videos
– remove video backgrounds
– expand images with descriptions (as seen in the video)
+++”;
“3. @diffusionbee
DiffusionBee is a free macOS app for Stable Diffusion. Give it a text prompt, and it generates a picture based on your text.”;
“4. @LexicaArt
Providing prompts for text-to-image solutions is an art.
LexicaArt is a Stable Diffusion search engine that shows prompts others have used to generate images.
You can also see variations of a prompt.”;
“5. @metaphorsystems
Metaphor is a new search
engine based on generative AI.
You prompt it by writing a phrase that looks like it could end with a link.”;
“6. @SoundrawUS
Do you need some unique music for your podcast or video? Soundraw is a music generator for creators.
Select the type of music you want – genre, instruments, mood, length, etc. – and let their AI generate beautiful songs and variants for you.”;
“7. @clipdropapp
Relight your existing photos
& drawings with ClipDrop Relight.
Relighting a picture after it is captured is possible thanks to their custom AI that maps depth into your pictures.”;
“8. Talk to books
Get quotes from more than 100 000 books that respond to your question.
A creativity tool by Google to explore new ideas and get relevant quotes.
http://books.google.com/talktobooks/”;

[12] BiblioG2022 Griffith T (2022) AI-Supported Tools for Personal Automation. Website. URL: https://terrigriffith.com/blog/ai-supported-tools-for-personal-automation Quotes: “AI-Supported Tools for Personal Automation – Automation is part of our work. The question is whether we are finding the tools to augment our abilities or waiting for our organizations to decide what to automate and who to replace. Research finds that people who craft their work are more productive and employable. In this earlier post with Brett Li of Tonkean, we talk about that research and the steps you can take to craft your work. But what tools can help us?”;

[13] BiblioM2022 Marcus G (2022) AI’s Jurassic Park moment. New systems like chatGPT are enormously entertaining, and even mind-boggling, but also unreliable, and potentially dangerous. The Road to AI We Can Trust. Substack – Gary Marcus Dec 10, 2022. URL: https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/ais-jurassic-park-moment Quotes: “Something incredible is happening in AI right now, and it’s not entirely to the good. Everybody is talking about systems like chatGPT (OpenAI), Dall-E 2, and Lensa that generate text and images that look remarkably human-like, with astonishingly little effort. These systems can be incredibly fun to play with. Take this example, generated by chatGPT by Henry Minsky (son of Marvin Minsky, one of AI’s founders), who asked chatGPT to “Describe losing your sock in the dryer in the style of the declaration of independence”:”; “That a machine could do this, with so little effort on the part of the user, is frankly mind-boggling. But at the same time it is, or should be, terrifying. It is no exaggeration to say that systems like these pose a real and imminent threat to the fabric of society. The core of that threat comes from the combination of three facts:”; “Spohrer: (1) Inherently unreliable – user beware, (2) Can be weaponized, (3) Inexpensive to bad actors.”; “Thanks Gary for making helpful points that these Generative-Pretrained-Transformer AI systems, like ChatGPT, are simultaneously very fun to use and yet (1) make many mistakes, so user beware, (2) can be weaponized by bad actors, and (3) are inexpensive to use by bad actors and other users alike. My further opinion here https://service-science.info/archives/6309”; “YouTube: Dr. Ian Malcolm gives Hammond an ethics lecture: Gee the lack of humility before nature that is being displayed here staggers me. Don’t you see the danger inherent in what you are doing here. Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet has ever seen. But you wield it like a kid who has found his dad’s gun. Scientific power did not require any discipline to attain. Didn’t earn it. Didn’t take responsibility for I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you’re using here: it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you’re selling it, you want to sell it!”; “Marcus: All of this raises a critical question: what can society do about this new threat? Where the technology itself can no longer be stopped, I see four paths, none easy, not exclusive, all urgent:”;”Spohrer paraphrase: (1) social media and search engine bans (like StackOverflow), (2) nations need to make misinformation an actionable offense, like libel, (3) ensure provenance of all user accounts (real people, real responsibility), (4) build better AI to verify truth.”;

[14] BiblioB2022 Banavar G (2022) ChatGPT’s deep fake text generation is a threat to evidence-based discourse. Medium – Guru Banavar. URL: https://medium.com/@guruduth.banavar/chatgpts-deep-fake-text-generation-is-a-threat-to-evidence-based-discourse-c096164207e0Quotes: “The insidious nature of such generative AI models is that they produce plausible sounding health information in a smooth conversational style, that is at best is generic in nature and at worst completely fictional. The problem is that most people cannot tell the difference between the two. “; “It can be argued that the information put out by ChatGPT is generic conventional wisdom, so it is not seriously problematic, and that it is the nature of science to continuously unearth new and improved truths. Also, it will always be the case that there will be outdated information in vogue. After all, the medical practices from the last few centuries are still being practiced in some form by subgroups of people somewhere in the world. But this is precisely why we would like modern AI systems to help us in curating the most evidence-based and trust-worthy information!”;

[15] BiblioM2022 Mollick E (2022) ChatGPT Is a Tipping Point for AI. HBR December 14, 2022. Via: Larry_Hiner URL: https://hbr.org/2022/12/chatgpt-is-a-tipping-point-for-ai Quotes: “Summary. We’re hitting a tipping point for artificial intelligence: With ChatGPT and other AI models that can communicate in plain English, write and revise text, and write code, the technology is suddenly becoming more useful to a broader population of people. This has huge implications. The ability to produce text and code on command means people are capable of producing more work, faster than ever before. Its ability to do different kinds of writing means it’s useful for many different kinds of businesses. Its capacity to respond to notes and revise its own work means there’s significant potential for hybrid human/AI work. Finally, we don’t yet know the limits of these models. All of this could mean sweeping changes for how — and what — work is done in the near future.”; “This highlights the third major change that happened with this release: the possibility of human-machine hybrid work. Instead of prompting an AI and hoping for a good result, humans can now guide AIs and correct mistakes. (Despite what my AI writing partner claims above, it’s not always accurate.) This means experts will be able to fill in the gaps of the AI’s capability, even as the AI becomes more helpful to the expert. This sort of interaction has led to increases in performance of players of Go, one of the world’s oldest and most complex games, who have learned from the AIs that mastered the sport, and become unprecedentedly better players themselves.”; “The problems of AI remain very real, however. For one, it is a consummate bullshitter, and I mean that in a technical sense. Bullshit is convincing-sounding nonsense, devoid of truth, and AI is very good at creating it. You can ask it to describe how we know dinosaurs had a civilization, and it will happily make up a whole set of facts explaining, quite convincingly, exactly that. It is no replacement for Google. It literally does not know what it doesn’t know, because it is, in fact, not an entity at all, but rather a complex algorithm generating meaningful sentences.”;

Complex, Interconnected Service System Characteristics

Best Prepared – current undergraduates degrees prep adequate
Narrow, well-defined technical system problems
Technology – Automation of simple capabilities
Measurement – Productivity, Quality, Costs
Data Science and Analytics – Recommender Systems
Manufacturing systems and value creation (Goods-dominant logic)
Linear supply chains
Single discipline, well-defined problems
Artifact design and interface design
Change of simple processes

Least Prepared – current undergraduate degrees prep inadequate
Open-ended, ill-defined socio-technical system problems
Technology – Augmentation of human intelligence
Service systems and value cocreation (Service-dominant logic)
Highly interconnected supply networks
Multiple discipline, wicked problems
Service design and user experience design
Change of organizations and ecosystems

We get the future we invest in

We get the future we invest in

The above title is the important message of a new book Service in the AI Era by Spohrer, Maglio, Vargo, and Warg. The last two sections of this blog post summarize some of the argument.

Register for this free NAE event to get a free digital copy of the book (just invest a few minutes and it will be sent to you)

  1. Please take 1 minute to register here and now for this NAE event – Monday Oct 17th – even if you cannot attend, you will be emailed a post event summary – and be on the list for future events regarding complex service systems. … and we will know where to send the book.
  2. Please take 5 minutes to answer four very short questions about preparing students as complex systems thinkers, who are prepared to understand and improve today’s complex, interconnected, digitally transforming, business and societal systems (what we call service science and service systems at the online NAE conference, what others at NAE call systems engineering and complex unifiable systems). … and we will have insights from you as we prepare a next publication.
  3. Spread the word – if you know 2-3 colleagues who are systems thinkers and who may have an interest in preparing better to innovate business and societal systems in the AI Age.

Why how we invest (our time, effort, money, etc.) matters, especially in the era of AI

Every person gives and gets service hundreds of times a day – and increasingly often this generates data for AI models. What is service? Service is the application of knowledge for the benefit of another. From turning on the light switch in the morning, to scanning social media, to getting to where we are going, to doing what we do when we get there, the activities and interactions that make up our lives are all about service. Increasingly AI capabilities are playing a bigger and bigger role in the daily “give and get” of service. Businesses and nations are investing in AI to stay competitive. The data that allows businesses and governments to build more powerful AI models comes from the activities of customers, employees, citizens, and even visitors.

To learn about some of the most powerful AI models in the world today, watch these two keynote talks – Alan D Thompson (AI models to create art, stories, programs, etc.) and Jensen Huang (increasingly large and sophisticated AI models – like the digital twin of Earth and digital twins of people – are built and run on powerful computer chips). After watching these two keynotes, there can be no doubt that AI models are getting bigger with more advanced capabilities to deliver useful service to people, and also that building and using these large AI models takes an enormous amount of (a) data, (b) energy, (c) advanced technology and (d) highly skilled people.

To learn more about the kind of data signals we are sending intentionally and unintentionally consider this…. What most people don’t know or think much about, unless they have studied service-dominant logic and service science to learn about service and service systems is that value is cocreated – meaning that both the service provider and the service customer play an important role. Cocreation is easy to understand in some service systems like education, since a student (customer) who does not prepare well for class may not do very well. Cocreation is harder to understand in some service systems like retail, since it seems like the customer is just buying something to use or consume, but in fact if the customer did not come in prepared and has to return the item, or throw away the item, the costs in the service system may make it difficult for other people to afford the service in the future. Waste is just one of many aspects or characteristics of service systems that is under-studied and leads to unintended consequences – that is not getting the futures we want. For more on waste, read this book Wasted: How We Squander Time, Money, and Natural Resources-and What We Can Do About It. For more on the data we are sharing, read this book What You Don’t Know: AI’s Unseen Influence on Your Life and How to Take Back Control.

The truth of the statement that we get the future we invest in is obvious to some people, but not everyone. However, like the genie in the lamp, AI models can be thought of as powerful servants designed to give us what we want and our collective data tells the AI model what we want. Every customer is a cocreator contributing data to AI models being developed by businesses and governments around the world. To better understand, invest ten minutes as described above and get the book Service in the AI Era. I also recommend pre-ordering Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered .

Investing to get a future we would want to live in requires understanding both AI as well as complex service systems, the data source for AI models

Every person who plays a role in an organization can be thought of as a service provider. Service providers will not be replaced by AI, but service providers who use AI will replace those who don’t. To learn more, please register for the NAE event on Oct 17th, and even if you cannot attend, you will be emailed a summary of the event as well as receive a copy of the book he book Service in the AI Era.

Service Systems Engineering in the Era of Human-Centered AI

Presentation and Event Log.

The Forum on Complex Unifiable Systems (FOCUS) of the US National Academy of Engineering is hosting an online event entitled Service Systems Engineering in the Era of Human-Centered AI on Monday October 17, 2022 from 11am-5pm ET. Register online here. For more information about the event please see here. The event will NOT be recorded. Those who register will be notified of future events that may be organized on this topic. Also, those who register are invited and encouraged to take this short survey to provide a position statement on the topic. Dr. Vittal Prabhu will lead a moderated discussion near the end of the online event. For additional information that is related to this topic, see also the Bridge issue on Complex Unifiable Systems and the book Service in the AI Era.


Invitation:
NAE Virtual Exchange on Service Systems Engineering in the Era of Human-Centered AI

Dear Colleague:

On behalf of Dr. Guru Madhavan and Dr. Bill Rouse from the National Academy of Engineering, I
write to invite you to participate in the October 17, 2022, NAE Forum on Complex Unifiable
Systems (FOCUS) program’s virtual exchange on service systems engineering in the era of
human-centered AI, an event being co-organized with Dr. Paul Maglio and Dr. Jim Spohrer.

With AI advances poised to drive service system productivity and quality—similar to the way
previous generations of technology revolutionized agriculture and manufacturing productivity
and quality—it is time to take stock for industry-academic-and-government stakeholders on
this important topic.
  This online exchange will begin with an opening keynote from Dr. Nicholas
Donofrio of IBM (Retired Executive Vice President Innovation and Technology), followed by four
panels and an open discussion on next steps that the National Academy of Engineering could
pursue on this subject. The meeting agenda is attached, we believe your participation can help
stimulate a lively exchange of ideas.

Please register here for further event details and the Zoom link.

With our thanks and best wishes,
Guru Madhavan
Bill Rouse
Paul P. Maglio
Jim Spohrer
cc: Darul West


Additional Resources

Human-Side of Service Engineering Conference (July 26-28, 2022)

The Human-Science of Service Engineering Conference
July 26-28, 2022 (with ISSIP.org recognition for the best paper awards)

Conference Website: https://2022.ahfe.org/board.html#hsse

Instructions: Day of the event, 10 minutes before the session start time, click on the bold hyperlinked name of the session below to join the session via go-to-meeting.


Co-chairs: Christine Leitner (LI), Clara Bassano (LI),Walter Ganz (LI) ,Debra Satterfield (LI)

For more information see the ISSIP Website Blog Post for this conference.


Tue Jul 26 5amPT/8amET: HSSE Welcome and Keynotes

Co-Chairs: Christine Leitner, Walter Ganz, Clara Bassano, Debra Satterfield, UK/Germany/Italy/USA

Keynote 1:

Keynote Video: https://vimeo.com/chrisryancreative/review/732529502/05c8646d35

Ralph Perrine. Director, Innovation Garage at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (also thanks to Keith Duprey for creating the video with Ralph)

… about 8 design pillars, first is better predictions, to transform healthcare system.

The first keynote is an ISSIP Excellence in Service Innovation Distinguished Recognition Award winner from 2021.

Keynote 2:

Keynote 2: Transformation in Action: Digitalization for achieving sustainable social development, Arman ABDRASSILOV, Kazakhstan

… about digital transformation in government with a focus on rural areas of Kazakhstan.


Tue Jul 26 9amPT/12noonET: Augmenting Service Capabilities in the Post-Pandemic Era

Co-Chairs: Kazuyoshi Hidaka and Kentaro Watanabe, Japan

Hisashi Masuda, Japan
Ichii Kenta, Hisashi Masuda, Japan
Shotaro Okamoto, Hiroki Takahashi, KOJI KIMITA, NARIAKI NISHINO, Japan
Kentaro Watanabe, Bach Ho, Mai Otsuki, Yusuke Kishita, Maiko Kobayakawa, Japan
Md Abul Kalam Siddike, Kazuyoshi Hidaka, Japan

Tue Jul 26 11:30amPT/2:30pmET Emerging Research Innovations in Service Design, User Experience, and Design Research

Co-Chairs: Kim Mitchell and Debra Satterfield, USA

Sam Anvari, Gabriella Hancock, United States
Julie Hurley, Nico Raddatz, Debra Satterfield, United States
Kimberly Mitchell, Xiaopeng Zhao, John Hooten, Robert Bray, Luke Macdougall, United States
Debra Satterfield, Jose Rivera-chang, David Teubner, Tom Tredway, Wesley Woelfel, United States
Hiromi Masunaga, Tianni Zhou, United States

Co-Chairs: Laura Huisinga and Joshua Ian Robles, USA

Laura Huisinga, United States
Glenn Terpstra, United States
Zahrasadat Golestanha, Debra Satterfield, United States
Nathaniel Pereira, United States
Jens Neuhüttler, Philipp Christel, Truong Le, Günter Wenzel, Antonio Ardilio, Germany
Joshua Ian Robles, United States

Wed Jul 27 7amPT/10amET Creating Value in Teams, Organizations, Communities, and Societies I

Co-Chairs: Youji Kohda and Yasunobu Ito, Japan

Nikka Ko, Youji Kohda, Naoshi Uchihira, Japan
Porruthai Boonswasd, Kunio Shirahada, Japan
Moritaro Inoue, Naoshi Uchihira, Japan
Hiromi Yamaguchi, Yasunobu Ito, Japan
Yaeko Kawaguchi, Yasunobu Ito, Japan
Masaya Ando, Yasunobu Ito, Japan
Jesselyn Alcain, Charlie Marquez, Lara Camille Beriña, Luke Samuel Bulaon, Jane Andrea Cheng, Gennes Erika Cruz, Philippines

Co-Chairs: Youji Kohda and Yasunobu Ito, Japan

Kagari Otani, Yasunobu Ito, Japan
Shun Coney, Yasunobu Ito, Japan
Su Wutyi Hnin, Amna Javed, Chawalit Jeenanunta, Jessada Karnjana, Youji Kohda, Japan
Aki Shimbo, Amna Javed, Hideomi Gokon, Youji Kohda, Japan
Yoshito Kubo, Osamu Sato, Japan

Co-Chairs: Clara Bassano and James C. Spohrer, Italy/USA

Alessandra Amendola, Alessandro Grimaldi, Walter Distaso, Italy
Francesco Polese, Luca Carrubbo, Antonietta Megaro, Italy
Valeria Damato, Pietro Campiglia, Clara Bassano, Italy
Teresa Marrone , Pierpaolo Testa, Italy
Sergio Barile, Clara Bassano, Paolo Piciocchi, Pietro Vito, James Clinton Spohrer, Italy

Co-Chairs: Walter Ganz and Jens Neuhüttler, Germany

Claudia Dukino, Damian Kutzias, Maike Link, Germany
Janika Kutz, Jens Neuhüttler, Jan Spilski, Thomas Lachmann, Germany
Adrian Campos, Toni Waefler, Anina Havelka, Patricia Deflorin, Switzerland
Michel Muschkiet, Tobias Wulfert, Germany
Christian Schiller, Michaela Friedrich, Simon Buchart, Germany
Alexander Gorovoj, Christian Schiller, Michaela Friedrich, Abdul Rahman Abdel Razek, Germany
Thomas Meiren, Christian Schiller, Germany

Co-Chairs: Walter Ganz and Jens Neuhüttler, Germany

Sandra Frings, Holger Kett, Jürgen Falkner, Germany
Damian Kutzias, Claudia Dukino, Germany
Maximilian Feike, Philipp Christel, Germany
Anne Sophie Tombeil, Rainer Nägele, Germany
Lena Ahner, Jens Neuhüttler, Nicole Gladilov, Germany

Chair: Christine Leitner, UK

Kristina Reinsalu, Estonia
Christian Stiefmueller, United Kingdom
Markus Warg, Germany
Mohammad Allagha, Oskar Kruschitz, Katherina Voss, Stefanie Binder, Kevin Truckenthanner, Austria
Flora Poecze, A Min Tjoa, Austria
Shrikant Parikh, India
Christoph Glauser, Uwe Serdült, Japan

Thu Jul 28 11:30amPT/2:30pmET Service Innovation in a VUCA World 

Co-Chairs: Christian Zagel and Freimut Bodendorf, Germany

Yuriko Sawatani, Japan
Christian Zinke-wehlmann, Julia Friedrich, Vanita Römer, Kristin Gilbert, Ulrike Pietrzyk, Anne Steputat Rätze, Germany
Matthias Scheibe, Germany
Dam Thi Thien Nhi, Leonhard Glomann, Alexander Piazza, Germany
Nina Merz, Joerg Franke, Freimut Bodendorf, Germany
Christian Zagel, Matthia Leyendecker, Germany

Thu Jul 28 1:30pmPT/4:30pmET HSSE Wrap-Up and Awards

Co-Chairs: Christine Leitner, Walter Ganz, Clara Bassano, Debra Satterfield, UK/Germany/Italy/USA


HICSS56 CFP: Industry-University Collaboration for Future of Work

Minitrack call-for-papers: Innovative applications of technologies in industry-university collaboration to prepare for the future of work

Read the call for papers details here.


Please see HICSS website for more details, and select author to submit a paper. Please retweet on Twitter.


Important dates:

April 15 Paper submission system reopened for HICSS-55
June 15 Papers due
August 17 Notification of acceptance/rejection
September 4 Deadline for authors whose papers are conditionally accepted to submit a revised manuscript
September 22 Deadline for authors to submit final Manuscript for publication
October 22 Deadline for authors to make the $275 paper production fee payment
November 30 Deadline for authors to submit presentation materials

International Society of Service Innovation Professinals (ISSIP.org)

What ISSIP offers to help its members grow their global technical eminence

1. Awards – annual excellence in service innovation award (Feb 28th deadline) [example blog]

2. Speaking opportunities that earn “knowledge sharing eminence” badges [example blog]

3. Conference speaking and publication opportunities that can earn best paper awards and badge recognition (e.g., HSSE, HICSS, etc.) [example blog]

4. Concise, expert book publication opportunities  – many professionals are excited when they publish their first book [example books]

5.. Leadership opportunities – recognition on ISSIP website and social media for leading special interest group online events and speaker series

6. Committees leadership and membership opportunities

7. Amplification for service innovation offerings, events, publications in ISSIP social media, interviews, and newsletter

8. Volunteer recognition in bi-annual progress meetings

What members can do to help ISSIP

1. Join ISSIP for free at the website, and get the monthly newsletter in email

2. Subscribe to ISSIP YouTube, follow @The_ISSIP on Twitter, and join ISSIP on LinkedIn

3. Encourage senior leadership in your organization to support ISSIP as an institutional member – and help set priorities for events and other activities

What is the ISSIP Platform
1. Opportunities for awards, badges, recognition for members

2. Website blogs and newsletter about members awards and activities

3. Sponsored conferences with speaking, publication, and best paper opportunities

4. Events including online discovery summits and special interest groups

5. Book publications

6. Social media channels – Youtube interviews, Social media amplification

What is the ISSIP Global Network

1. Industry, academic, government professionals with an interest in promoting service innovation

2. Students learning about service innovation techniques, doing projects, publishing papers, launching their careers

3. Over 40 counties, and 1400 individuals

4. Over a dozen leading companies, universities, and government organizations via ISSIP Ambassadors

What is Service and Service Innovation

1. Service is the application of resources (e.g., knowledge) for the benefit of another

2. Service innovations improve win-win interaction and change for individual, business, and societal wellbeing

3. Service  innovations increase the number of “good days” of interaction and change, while reducing the number of “bad days”

4. Service innovations happen as responsible actors learn to invest (systematically) in becoming better future versions of themselves

5. Responsible actors are viewed as service systems that give and get service include individual people, businesses, universities, governments, etc.

6. Advanced technologies and new regulations are two key drivers of change in the way actors interact (e.g.,, smartphones, GDPR)

7. Upskilling of people is also a key driver of change in the way actors interact (e.g., growth mindset, agile, service design, data science, system thinking, open source, etc.)

Service Innovation Conferences

Annually and bi-annually, there are a number of service innovation related conferences, some are sponsored by ISSIP or have ISSIP Ambassadors who help lead and/or organize sessions at the conferences.

HICSS: Deadlines Feb 12 for mini-tracks and June 15 for papers. Estimated 1000 attendees. Typically several service science and service innovation friendly mini-tracks. Location Hawaii USA. If interested contact ISSIP Ambassador Haluk Demirkan , Paul Maglio, or Terri Griffith. See past best paper awards here.

AHFE HSSE: Location USA and global location (occasionally). Estimated 2000 attendees at AHFE, and 60 attendees at HSSE. If interested contact ISSIP Ambassadors Christine Leitner or Clara Bassano. See past best paper award here.

Naples Forum on Service (Bi-Annual): Location Italy. Estimated 150 highly influential attendees. If interested contact ISSIP Ambassadors Francesco Polese or Cristina Mele. See past best paper awards here.

ISM: Location Europe. Estimated 200 attendees. If interested contact ISSIP Ambassador Antonio Podavano. See past best paper awards here.

Frontiers in Service: USA and global locations (occasionally). Estimated 200-300 attendees. Top presentations at this conference, sometimes lead to papers in the Journal of Service Research (JSR). If interested in JSR, please contact ISSIP Ambassador Ming-Hui Huang.

IESS: Location Europe. Estimated 200 attendees.

ICServ (Bi-Annual): Location Japan. Estimated 200 attendees. If interested contact ISSIP Ambassador Kazuyoshi Hidaka.

PICMET: Location Portland Oregon and other locations (occasionally). Estimated 200-500 attendees. If interested contact ISSIP Ambassador Dundar Kocaoglu.

Service Innovation Awards

Annually, there are a a number of service innovation awards.

ISSIP Excellence in Service Innovation Award: Deadline Feb 28, 2022. “…. to a company or organizations that has … deployed a new service that, in the judgment of the ISSIP Award Committee, is the most innovative of all of the submissions for that year with impact to business, society, and innovation.” Runners up also are recognized with ISSIP Badge awards, and invited to provide a presentation to the ISSIP community about the innovation.

IISE Outstanding Innovation in Service Systems Award: Deadline March 2, 2022. “The Award recognizes organizations for the development of innovative techniques to improve the performance of service industries. Each of the selected finalists will receive two complimentary conference registrations. Finalists are required to provide follow-up webinars sponsored by the Council on Industrial and Systems Engineering (CISE) for members and customers of IISE for supporting world-wide dissemination of such innovations across the ISE profession.”

Thinking about ServCollab and ISSIP

As part of my reading and thinking this morning, ServCollab was top of mind, and the scale of the grand challenge problems that community of practice is trying to tackle (service ecosystem health, climate change, refugee service experience, inclusion, etc.), as well as synergies and collaboration opportunities with the ISSIP community. For those interested, it is easy and free to join both ServCollab and ISSIP, since they are volunteer communities. As volunteer communities, my recommendation is to join while recalling what John F. Kennedy wisely said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Both the ServCollab and ISSIP as communities of practice focus on “service” as the central concept of human experience (HX) and connected to all aspects of business and societal interactions, change, and innovation. ServCollab as a service research community initiative has a focus on service design and action research methods to bring about change in wellbeing of people and planet. ISSIP as a professional association sponsored by companies has a focus on professional development and capability building of members on the topic of service innovations.

References

Badinelli R (2012) What do we mean by service? ISSIP website.

Boenigk S, Fisk R, Kabadayi S, Alkire L, Cheung L, Corus C, Finsterwalder J, Kreimer AA, Luca N, Omeira M, Paul P, Santos MF, Smidt N (2021) Rethinking service systems and public policy: a transformative refugee service experience framework. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 2021 Apr;40(2):165-83.

Fisk RP, Anderson L, Bowen DE, Gruber T, Ostrom A, Patrício L, Reynoso J, Sebastiani R (2016) Billions of impoverished people deserve to be better served: A call to action for the service research community. Journal of Service Management. 27(1): 43-55.

Fisk RP, Dean AM, Alkire L, Joubert A, Previte J, Robertson N, Rosenbaum MS (2018) Design for Service Inclusion: Creating Inclusive Service Systems by 2050. Journal of Service Management. 29(5):834-858.

Fisk R, Fuessel A, Laszlo C, Struebi P, Valera A, Weiss C (2019) Systemic social innovation: Co-creating a future where humans and all life thrive. Humanistic Management Journal. 4(2):191-214.

Fisk RP, Alkire L, Anderson L, Bowen DE, Gruber T, Ostrom AL, Patrício L (2020) Elevating the Human eXperience (HX) through Service Research Collaborations: Introducing ServCollab. Journal of Service Management

Fisk RP (2020) How Serving Each Other Can Save Humanity. TEDx Texas State University.

Fisk RP, Alkire L (2021) Service Ecosystem Health: A Transformative Approach to Elevating Service Science. Service Science 13(4):194-204.

Annotated References

Badinelli R (2012) What do we mean by service? ISSIP Website.

URL: https://issip.org/what-do-we-mean-by-service/

“The residue of outdated definitions of service have left many service professionals confused about the true nature of service and the broad range of disciplines that have an interest in this field. The definition of the word “service” has undergone a transformation within the last decade.” P. 1.

“Therefore, we define service as the application of knowledge to co-create value, and service science as the study of diverse, interconnected, complex “human-centered value-cocreation systems” in business and society.” P. 1.

Boenigk S, Fisk R, Kabadayi S, Alkire L, Cheung L, Corus C, Finsterwalder J, Kreimer AA, Luca N, Omeira M, Paul P, Santos MF, Smidt N (2021) Rethinking service systems and public policy: a transformative refugee service experience framework. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 2021 Apr;40(2):165-83.
URL: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/170226/1/Rethinking_refugees_services_accepted_manuscript.pdf

“The global refugee crisis is a complex humanitarian problem. Service researchers can assist in solving this crisis because refugees are immersed in complex human service systems. Drawing on marketing, sociology, transformative service, and consumer research literature, this study develops a Transformative Refugee Service Experience Framework to enable researchers, service actors, and public policy makers to navigate the challenges faced throughout a refugee’s service journey. The primary dimensions of this framework encompass the spectrum from hostile to hospitable refugee service systems and the resulting suffering or well- being in refugees’ experiences. The authors conceptualize this at three refugee service journey phases (entry, transition, and exit) and at three refugee service system levels (macro, meso, and micro) of analysis. The framework is supported by brief examples from a range of service-related refugee contexts as well as a Web Appendix with additional cases. Moreover, the authors derive a comprehensive research agenda from the framework, with detailed research questions for public policy and (service) marketing researchers. Managerial directions are provided to increase awareness of refugee service problems; stimulate productive interactions; and improve collaboration among public and nonprofit organizations, private service providers, and refugees. Finally, this work provides a vision for creating hospitable refugee service systems.” P. 165.

“Second, research in several disciplines, such as philosophy (Sabine 1916), social sciences (Fixsen et al. 2013; Safouane 2017), economics (Carmeli 2007), law (Floss 2006), informa- tion and communication technology (Beghtol 2003; Muter et al. 1993), medicine, health care (Okie 2007; Simelela and Venter 2014), biological sciences (Miller and Bohannan 2019), and politics (McFadyen 2016; Silver, Keeper, and MacKenzie 2005), has taken a system view and discussed hospitable versus hostile systems.” P. 167.

“Restrictions such as legal, political, or resource constraints can prevent actors in the system from cocreating well-being with actors located in the same system, with those entering the system, or with actors outside the system (Kuppelwieser and Finsterwalder 2016). Certain political movements and ideologies that cite alleged risks to security due to the arrival of refugees might prevent them from entering in the first place (Osborne 2019). Derrida (2000) argues that restrictions change the pure nature of hospitality, such that systems might become hostile, at least in part, by imposing long waiting times for refugees to access services or be legally admitted to the new service system. This built- in “hostipitality” (Derrida 2000, p. 3) relates to “hospitality toward the undesirable guest,” and reflects the “fear of the other abusing the system (and the host state) [and] is resulting in stringent policies that are detrimentally impacting on those individuals seeking sanctuary” (McFadyen 2016, pp. 600, 614).” P. 172.

Fisk RP, Anderson L, Bowen DE, Gruber T, Ostrom A, Patrício L, Reynoso J, Sebastiani R (2016) Billions of impoverished people deserve to be better served: A call to action for the service research community. Journal of Service Management. 27(1): 43-55. [online at emerald.com]

“Introduction: Poverty is truly a wicked problem with no easy solutions. Every country has large numbers of citizens trapped in poverty, which led the United Nations (2015) to boldly declare that ending poverty is their Number 1 Sustainable Development Goal. When so many people in so many countries live in multi-generational poverty, the service systems of human society are failing to deliver adequate basic services. Such basic service systems include health, education, public safety, transportation, energy, sanitation, and such life support services as food, water, and shelter. Poverty is difficult to reduce because the service systems of human society are complex and interrelated. Further, the poor are routinely the victims of crime and corruption, which makes their plight all the more tragic. Our service research community has the ability to help reduce poverty. There is no longer any excuse for hesitation or inaction. The time has come for our service research community to broaden its research efforts to include the service needs of the majority of humanity who are still trapped in poverty.” P.44.

“The BoP: service problems and opportunities: BoP has become the common description for the approximately two thirds of the world’s population who live on the equivalent of less than nine US Dollars per day (Arnold and Valentin, 2013). For these impoverished people, limited access to basic services and inadequate service systems leave them mired in poverty. These service problems include limited or no access to health care, education, transportation, and electricity; no sanitation; insufficient or poor quality food; no clean drinking water; and no adequate housing.” P. 45.

Fisk RP, Dean AM, Alkire L, Joubert A, Previte J, Robertson N, Rosenbaum MS (2018) Design for Service Inclusion: Creating Inclusive Service Systems by 2050. Journal of Service Management. 29(5):834-858. [online at emerald.com]

“Introduction: Unfair service systems have been common across human history and remain as such in many modern service experiences. Further, unfairness has been documented in every human society. This unfairness stems from customers often lacking access to services, systemic bias, customer vulnerability and discrimination during service interactions. This paper focuses on these forms of unfairness and labels them as “service exclusion.” Service exclusion occurs when services (service providers or service systems) deliberately or unintentionally fail to include or to adequately serve customers in a fair manner… This situation calls for urgent attention and action at all levels. To offset these problems, the authors propose the concept of “service inclusion,” which refers to an egalitarian system that provides customers (e.g. consumers, clients, patrons, citizens, patients and guests) with fair access to a service, fair treatment during a service and fair opportunity to exit a service. With this definition, the authors advance a criterion that represents a global service system standard for service relationships and interactions. The logic for this concept of service inclusion is founded on the understanding that the concept of universal human rights was invented in the eighteenth century (Hunt, 2007) and that it is steadily advancing.” P. 835.

Fisk R, Fuessel A, Laszlo C, Struebi P, Valera A, Weiss C (2019) Systemic social innovation: Co-creating a future where humans and all life thrive. Humanistic Management Journal. 4(2):191-214.

“Abstract: Society is at a crossroads. Interconnected systems, radical transparency, and rapidly increasing sophistication in skills, communications, and technologies provide a unique context for fostering social innovation at a planetary scale. We argue that unprece- dented rates of systemic social change are possible for co-creating a future where humans and all life can thrive. Yet, this requires innovation in the conceptions, practice, teaching, and researching of social innovation itself to reimagine what it is and can be. As a multidisciplinary group of academics, practitioners, and educators, we integrate our perspectives on social innovation and humanistic management to suggest the notion of systemic social innovation. We introduce the concept of “trans- formative collaboration” as central to facilitating systemic social innovation and propose a multilevel model for accelerating systems change. We then develop an integrated framework for conceptualizing systemic social innovation. Four levels of social impact are identified, and these levels are bracketed with a call for transforming individual consciousness at the micro level and new collective mindsets at the macro level. Blooom is presented as a case study to illustrate transformative collaboration, demonstrate the role of mindset shift in practice, and introduce four key ingredients to systemic social innovation. Finally, a call to action is issued for social innovation practice, teaching, and research. Most importantly, we seek to inspire and accelerate systemic social innovation that enables the flourishing of every human being and all life on earth.” P. 191.

“Transformative Collaboration: In this article, we propose that the highest form of collaboration should be called “transformative collaboration,” which occurs when all participants are able to make contributions at their full human potential. It is the liberation of human potential through collaboration that is transformative. We propose three key principles as central to the notion of transformative collaboration: equality and inclusion, personal consciousness, and creativity and innovation.” P. 199.

Fisk RP, Alkire L, Anderson L, Bowen DE, Gruber T, Ostrom AL, Patrício L (2020) Elevating the Human eXperience (HX) through Service Research Collaborations: Introducing ServCollab. Journal of Service Management. [online at lboro.ac.uk]
URL: https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Elevating_the_human_experience_HX_through_service_research_collaborations_introducing_ServCollab/12116316/files/22282044.pdf

“As the service research field has evolved, our understanding of the nature of service has shifted from being peripheral to human experience (HX) to becoming central to HX. One aspect of this new centrality of service has been the expansion of research topics beyond dyadic service encounters (Bitner et al., 1990) to service systems (Maglio et al., 2009) and then to service ecosystems (Akaka and Vargo, 2015). A second aspect is the emergence of the transformative service research (TSR) movement, which has raised the aspirations of the service research field to improving human well-being (Anderson et al., 2013) and reducing its suffering (Nasr and Fisk, 2019). There is great power and potential in this new understanding of the central role of service in human life. Fundamentally, the centrality of service to HX means that the greatest potential of the service research field is yet to be explored and discovered. ServCollab was created to enable the service research field to elevate HX through service research collaborations.” P.616

“For the service research field to make major scientific advances and truly improve human well- being and reduce its suffering, it will require larger service research projects. Such projects will require that service researchers build large and inclusive project teams, sharpen their collaboration skills and hone their research tools for serving humanity. It will also require that service researchers create and share a service language that improves communication across the service research community (Fisk and Grove, 2010). Most importantly, it will require that service researchers develop service standards for properly serving humanity.” P. 616.

“What is ServCollab? ServCollab is a service research organization for diagnosing and treating humanity’s service system problems (poverty, ignorance, disease, etc.).” P. 616.

“Why focus on collaboration?
As a social species, human interactions are learned behaviors that are essential for human existence. Table 1 shows our conceptualization of four categories of human interaction: conflict, competition, cooperation and collaboration. Conflict and competition are common interactions that are chronicled widely in human history. Conflict starts as an argument but can escalate into a war. Competition refers to seeking the same resources through a rules- based contest. Both conflict and competition result in winners seeking dominance over the losers. Such dominance is associated with the origination of the word service. Service is derived from the Latin word “servus” (Merriam-Webster.com 2020), which means slave or servant.
Cooperation and collaboration have been less prominently chronicled by historians. Cooperation is participatory interaction but not always voluntary interaction. Cooperation can be coerced by law, by bullying or by physical force. As such, cooperation can lead to unequal and unjust outcomes, whereas one party could be benefiting at the expense of the other. Collaboration is distinguished by shared intentionality (Angus and Newton, 2015). Collaborative interactions occur when people eagerly engage in working with each other. Anthropologists (Tomasello et al., 2012) have characterized the evolution of our species in prehistoric times as mutualistic collaboration driven by interdependence. Such mutualistic collaboration began with the first service systems (families) and continued with the steady evolution in sophistication of human service systems from families, to tribes, to villages, to cities and to nations (Fisk, 2009; Fisk and Grove, 2010).” P. 617.

“Human experience (HX): a broader perspective on serving humanity
When Vargo and Lusch (2004) introduced service-dominant logic (S-D logic), it was a key milestone in the broadening of thinking about service. They argued that service is fundamental to all economic and social exchange. This launched many service researchers on a path of rethinking the foundations of the service research field, which included expanding from the original focus on service encounters (Bitner et al., 1990) to service systems (Maglio et al., 2009) and then to service ecosystems (Akaka and Vargo, 2015; Lusch and Vargo, 2014).”

“Designing new service solutions to serve humanity
Service design can be defined as a human-centered, holistic, creative and iterative approach to service innovation (Meroni and Sangiorgi, 2011), rooted in design as changing existing situations into preferred futures (Simon, 1969). ” P. 623.

“Service design takes a human-centered and participatory approach, designing for and with people, and can contribute to creating balanced solutions to uplift human service systems.
Designing for people involves a sensemaking approach, viewed as a social construction of meaning focused on understanding how people experience and understand the world around them and reflecting this sensemaking in the solutions being developed (Cipolla and Reynoso, 2017). Designing with people reflects a participatory approach where people are considered true experts in domains of experience such as living or working, and as such they are actively involved as cocreators in the design process, while the designer plays a facilitator role (Sanders, 2008). ” P. 623.

“Designing service for transformation. The action-oriented and participatory approach to service design can also generate transformative value for uplifting changes in individual and collective well-being (Blocker and Barrios, 2015). This transformative service design approach seeks to create not only new service solutions but also the platforms and capacities for ongoing and lasting change (Sangiorgi et al., 2019). Service design can, therefore, promote the change of ingrained norms, rules and beliefs of different system actors, such as fostering more human-centered and participatory approaches in health care and promoting ecosystem innovation through institutional change (Vink et al., 2019). ” P. 624.

“Action research: Action research seeks transformative change through simultaneously conducting research and seeking action. There are different types of action research, but most are enacted through an explicit set of social values that align with the principles of ServCollab. These values translate into a process of inquiry with the following characteristics:
(1) “Democratic – enabling the participation of all people.
(2) Equitable – acknowledging people’s equality of worth.
(3) Liberating – providing freedom from oppressive, debilitating conditions.
(4) Life enhancing – enabling the expression of people’s full human potential.” (Stringer, 1999, pp. 9–10).
Critical Participatory Action Research (Critical PAR) is an especially fitting type of action research, which Michelle Fine describes in her appropriately titled book, Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination (2018a).” P.624.

“Community Advisory Boards (CABs) can provide a moral compass for some of the ethical dilemmas and issues raised by Critical PAR. CABs can be created for specific projects or they can become permanent entities for certain communities. CABs can assess risks and benefits to the community of study participation; power between community, academic and other collaborators; ownership of data; authorship; transparency; accountability; use of findings and by whom; among other issues (Guishard, 2015).
ServCollab seeks to support projects adopting service design and Critical PAR as research approaches. This support includes sharing expertise, organizing workshops, searching for funding, research access, following responsible research standards and avoiding research pitfalls.” P. 626.

Fisk RP (2020) How Serving Each Other Can Save Humanity. TEDx Texas State University.
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-V1qbry6aI
Different, but also see:
Grant H (2019) How To Ask For Help – And Get a “Yes”. TED Salon: Brightline Initiative.
URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/heidi_grant_how_to_ask_for_help_and_get_a_yes

Fisk RP, Alkire L (2021) Service Ecosystem Health: A Transformative Approach to Elevating Service Science. Service Science 13(4):194-204.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0281

“Abstract. Events in the year 2020 threw human service systems into chaotic states, threat- ening peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Before 2020, there were many profound challenges to human life that had been well documented by efforts such as the United Nations Sustain- able Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a “last straw” crisis that has destabilized modern human civilization. This article diagnoses various crises of human service systems (e.g., COVID-19, inequality, and climate change) and proposes the meta- phor of service ecosystem health for reimagining service science in a postpandemic world. Service ecosystem health is defined as the interdependent state of private, public, and plan- etary well-being necessary for sustaining life. This article reimagines service science, broad- ens transformative service research, builds the service ecosystem health metaphor, outlines the Goldilocks Civilization thought experiment, and explores designing for a Goldilocks civilization. Because service is for humans, the ultimate objective is to elevate service sci- ence to uplift human well-being.” P. 194.

“We define service ecosystem health as the interde- pendent state of private, public, and planetary well- being necessary for sustaining life. The first section of this article discusses reimagining service science. The second section discusses broaden- ing transformative service research (TSR). The third section builds the service ecosystem health metaphor through an interdisciplinary overview of public health, syndemic theory, human ecology, ecosystem health, and planetary health literatures. The fourth section de- scribes a Goldilocks civilization thought experiment that imagines what harmonizing the complex service ecosystem interactions between humans and between nature and humans might require. The final section proposes a service ecosystem design approach for cre- ating service science collaborations sufficiently robust to tackle the challenges of prototyping Goldilocks civi- lization solutions for service ecosystem health.” P. 195.

“We believe that service scientists should be at the forefront in proposing and developing collaborative systematic service innovations on behalf of our imperiled human ecology.” P. 201.

World Bank (2013) Inclusion Matters : The Foundation for Shared Prosperity. New Frontiers of Social Policy. World Bank, Washington DC. [online at worldbank.org]

“Today, the world is at a conjuncture where issues of exclusion and inclusion are assuming new significance for both developed and developing countries. The imperative for social inclusion has blurred the distinction between these two stylized poles of development. Countries that used to be referred to as developed are grappling with issues of exclusion and inclusion perhaps more intensely today than they did a decade ago. And countries previously called developing are grappling with both old issues and new forms of exclusion thrown up by growth.”