{"DOI":"10.1007/s12525-020-00443-2","abstract":"AbstractThe restaurant technology market is rapidly evolving and is transforming the restaurant business as a significant sector of tourism and hospitality. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), mobile apps, kiosks and chatbots revolutionize the guest experience and robots automate restaurant operations. Despite the increasing interest, the use of AI and robotics in restaurants is still in its early stage and restaurant managers are seeking guidance to leverage these technologies\u00a0for service excellence. In this high-contact service sector, emotional skills need to be balanced with the possible automation potentials. The present research\u00a0analyzes the current state of AI and robotics in the restaurant sector\u00a0and proposes a systematic identification of process innovation potentials. For this purpose, a market analysis of the European AI and robotics market for restaurant operations\u00a0is conducted, which yields a first knowledge base for future research and conceptual work. Besides\u00a0detailed empirical data, a reference process\u00a0is developed for leveraging new technologies for process innovation.","author":[{"family":"Bl\u00f6cher","given":"Katharina"},{"family":"Alt","given":"Rainer"}],"id":"unknown","issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,18]]},"language":"en","publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","title":"AI and robotics in the European restaurant sector: Assessing potentials for process innovation in a high-contact\u00a0service industry","type":"article-journal"}