Japanese supermarket chain AEON has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) system to evaluate and standardize employees’ smiles, reigniting discussions about workplace harassment.
On July 1, AEON announced it had become the first company globally to deploy a smile-gauging AI system across its 240 stores nationwide. Developed by Japanese tech firm InstaVR, the system, named “Mr Smile,” assesses a shop assistant’s service attitude by analyzing over 450 factors, including facial expressions, voice volume, and tone of greetings.
The system incorporates “game” elements to motivate staff to improve their scores. After a trial involving about 3,400 employees in eight stores, AEON reported that service attitude improved by up to 1.6 times over three months. The company’s goal is to standardize staff smiles and maximize customer satisfaction.
Concerns Over AI and Workplace Harassment
The introduction of this AI system has raised concerns about potential workplace harassment. In Japan, customer harassment, known as “kasu-hara,” is a significant issue, with many service workers reporting abusive language and repetitive complaints from customers. A survey by Japan’s biggest union, UA Zensen, found that nearly half of the 30,000 service industry workers surveyed experienced customer harassment.
Employee Feedback on AI Implementation
| Statement | Respondent |
|---|---|
| “When service industry workers are forced to smile according to a ‘standard,’ it seems like another form of customer harassment.” | Anonymous |
| “Smiles should be a beautiful, heartfelt thing, not treated like a product.” | Anonymous |
| “People are different and express their affections differently. Using a machine to ‘standardize’ people’s attitudes sounds cold and silly.” | Anonymous |
The strategy has drawn comparisons to McDonald’s “Smile zero yen” campaign in Japan, which has been criticized for burdening low-wage employees with the expectation of constant smiling. Following Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare’s guidelines against customer harassment in 2022, there has been increased emphasis on balancing service standards with employee well-being.
In a positive development, a supermarket in Fukuoka prefecture introduced an extra-slow checkout counter for elderly and disabled customers. This initiative, allowing customers to spend up to 20 minutes at checkout without pressure, led to a 10% increase in sales despite fewer customers passing through, according to Asahi TV.
Featured Image courtesy of DALL-E by ChatGPT
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