AEON, Japan’s largest supermarket chain, has introduced an AI system named “Mr. Smile” to monitor and standardize employee smiles, aiming to enhance customer satisfaction.
Developed by InstaVR, the system evaluates over 450 factors, such as facial expressions and voice tone. After a successful trial in eight stores, which showed a 1.6-fold improvement in service attitude, AEON has expanded the system to all its locations.
However, concerns about potential workplace harassment from customers have been raised by Japan’s largest union,
UA Zensen, which reports that about 30,000 service industry workers have experienced such issues.