AI-driven solutions for promoting customer inclusivity in service industries: a systematic review

This study provides a systematic review of scholarly research on artificial intelligence and customer inclusivity in service industries. It maps the intellectual structure and emerging trends surrounding inclusive AI deployment in service contexts. Drawing on 87 peer-reviewed articles published up to 2025, the review employs co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, and qualitative content coding. The findings reveal a growing yet fragmented body of knowledge, particularly in how inclusivity, defined across physical, digital, emotional, and cognitive dimensions, is conceptualised and operationalised. While AI technologies hold significant promise in improving accessibility, personalisation, and responsiveness, they also risk exacerbating algorithmic bias, emotional exclusion, and socio-cultural insensitivity. This review synthesises sector-specific challenges across healthcare, hospitality, retail, and finance and proposes a multidimensional framework that integrates the ethical, behavioural, and technological dimensions of inclusivity. The study concludes with a prioritised research agenda and practical recommendations for developing inclusive, human-centred, and context-sensitive AI applications in service systems.