The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore potential applications of cyborgian technologies within service contexts and how service providers may leverage the integration of cyborgian service actors into their service proposition. In doing so, the paper proposes a new category of “melded” frontline employees (FLEs), where advanced technologies become embodied within human actors. The paper presents potential opportunities and challenges that may arise through cyborg technological advancements and proposes a future research agenda related to these.,This study draws on literature in the fields of services management, artificial intelligence, robotics, intelligence augmentation (IA) and human intelligence to conceptualise potential cyborgian applications.,The paper examines how cyborg bio- and psychophysical characteristics may significantly differentiate the nature of service interactions from traditional “unenhanced” service interactions. In doing so, the authors propose “melding” as a conceptual category of technological impact on FLEs. This category reflects the embodiment of emergent technologies not previously captured within existing literature on cyborgs. The authors examine how traditional roles of FLEs will be potentially impacted by the integration of emergent cyborg technologies, such as neural interfaces and implants, into service contexts before outlining future research directions related to these, specifically highlighting the range of ethical considerations.,Service interactions with cyborg FLEs represent a new context for examining the potential impact of cyborgs. This paper explores how technological advancements will alter the individual capacities of humans to enable such employees to intuitively and empathetically create solutions to complex service challenges. In doing so, the authors augment the extant literature on cyborgs, such as the body hacking movement. The paper also outlines a research agenda to address the potential consequences of cyborgian integration.

中文翻译：

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机器人作为一线服务员工：研究议程

本文的目的是确定并探索半自动技术在服务环境中的潜在应用，以及服务提供商如何利用半自动服务参与者将其整合到他们的服务主张中。在此过程中，本文提出了一个新类别的“融合”一线员工（FLE），其中先进技术已体现在人类行为者中。本文介绍了机器人技术发展可能带来的潜在机遇和挑战，并提出了与之相关的未来研究议程。该研究借鉴了服务管理，人工智能，机器人技术，智能增强（IA）和人类智能领域的文献以概念化潜在的半自动人的应用。，本文研究了半机械人的生物和心理生理特征如何将服务交互的本质与传统的“未增强的”服务交互区别开来。为此，作者建议将“融合”作为对FLE的技术影响的概念类别。该类别反映了新兴技术的体现，而这些新兴技术以前在机器人上的现有文献中未捕获。作者在概述与之相关的未来研究方向之前，研究了将新兴的电子人技术（例如神经接口和植入物）集成到服务环境中，会对FLE的传统角色产生潜在的影响，特别着重强调伦理学考虑的范围。机器人的FLE代表了研究机器人的潜在影响的新背景。本文探讨了技术进步将如何改变人类的个人能力，以使此类员工能够直观而富有同情心地创建解决方案，以应对复杂的服务挑战。通过这样做，作者们丰富了有关机器人的现有文献，例如人体黑客运动。本文还概述了解决人机融合的潜在后果的研究议程。