How does ordering food via AI influence customer food choices? This is what a recent study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated a link between using a AI or human voice for ordering food. This study has the potential to help scientists and the public better understand AI-human interaction and the steps that can be taken to improve it.
For the study, the researchers conducted a series of online and laboratory experiments to ascertain how an AI voice versus an employee voice influenced consumers’ choices. For the first experiment, the researchers surveyed 117 total participants to see the connection between an AI voice versus and employee voice in choosing unhealthy foods. For the second experiment, the researchers surveyed 123 participants to ascertain how the AI voice impacted a person's cognitive thinking ability. For the third experiment, the researchers surveyed 164 participants to ascertain if an avatar combined with an AI voice could help mitigate the robotic-like features of the AI voice.
In the end, the researchers found that participants ordering food strictly through an AI voice are more likely to order unhealthy food. In contrast, participants who ordered food through an AI voice using an avatar were less likely to have their food choices impacted. They note ordering unhealthy food from the AI voice was due to lack of interest and tiredness having to increase their attention span.
“The findings suggest that small design changes, such as adding a friendly avatar, can reduce mental fatigue and lead to more balanced decisions,” said Dr. Chandler Yu, who is an associate professor of hospitality management at Penn State University and a co-author on the study. “Pairing an avatar with voice AI can reduce indulgent food choices by lowering cognitive depletion.”
The researchers note these findings could help better inform marketers and medical professionals regarding consumer food choices, which could alleviate health concerns from consuming too much fast food.
What new insight into AI food ordering will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: International Journal of Hospitality Management, EurekAlert!
