AI-based self-service technology in public service delivery: User experience and influencing factors

Abstract Public sectors are utilizing AI-based self-service technology (SST) at an accelerating rate, given its potential for improving work efficiency and user experience, reducing service costs, and relieving human workloads. However, there is a limited understanding of the factors influencing citizens' user experience when services supported by AI-based SST are provided. Thus, with insights from the Consumer Value Theory, this paper aims to explore the factors that are important to AI-based SST user experience and the conditional role of trust in government. The on-site survey of 379 citizens in a public service center in China indicates that user experience positively relates to personalization and aesthetics and negatively associates with perceived time spent on the AI-based self-service machines. In addition, the results suggest that citizens with more trust in government are more likely to have a pleasant experience coming from AI-based SST's personalization and aesthetics. Public managers should ensure that the AI-based SST is aesthetically appealing and should be able to personalize the delivery of the right contents to the right person at the right time. Furthermore, they should always prioritize cultivating more trust from citizens to achieve a more positive user experience.