Erin Chao Ling
PhD Researcher
BSc, MSc
Academic and research departments
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.Biography
Erin Chao Ling obtained her MS.c degree in Management at the University of Bristol, UK. and BS.c. degree in Tourism Management at Hainan University, China. Currently, she is a PhD researcher at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, UK. Her research interests focus on artificial intelligence in the travel industry, intelligent digital assistants, human-chatbot interaction, recommender system, consumer satisfaction, travel behaviour and decision making. Also, Erin has started to serve International Federation for Information Technologies and Travel & Tourism (IFITT) as the Communication Officer since 2018.
University roles and responsibilities
- Student Mentor
My qualifications
2016-2017
MSc (Management)
University of Bristol
Affiliations and memberships
Research
Research interests
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Travel Industry
- Chatbots
- Human-Chatbot Interaction
- Intelligent Digital Assistant
- Recommender System
- Travel Behaviour and Decision-making
- Consumer Satisfaction
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Research projects
The Determinants of satisfaction of and continuance intention towards artificial intelligence for trip planning
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is dramatically transforming and influencing various industrial fields. It is gradually becoming one of the main innovative solutions to enhance business performance.
My doctoral research looks into the use of artificial intelligence in the tourism and hospitality industry, focussing on satisfaction towards AI agents. Specifically, My research aims to examine travellers' satisfaction with human-chatbot interaction and continuance intention to use AI-powered chatbots again in the future for trip planning.
Partnership Building to Co-Create PhD Research with Industry
The purpose of this engagement is to find out the key issues around the implementation of AI systems, especially with regards to user experiences in human-chatbot interaction.
Funded by ESRC Southeast Network for Social Science (SeNSS) November 2018 - February 2019.
My publications
Publications
Hack Hospitality brought together Surrey?s research team with experts in AI and
robotics, as well as thought leaders in the hospitality and travel industry to envision
how to best implement chatbots for hospitality. Workshop participants engaged in
insightful discussion and collaborative exercises using Personas and Scripts to codesign human-chatbot conversations and think about the benefits and challenges of
implementing chatbots in the travel and hospitality industry.
Tuomi Aarni, Tussyadiah Iis, Ling Erin, Miller Graham, Lee Geunhee (2020) x=(tourism_work) y=(sdg8) while y=true: automate(x),Annals of Tourism Research Elsevier
Increasing implementation of automation has brought global concerns over the future of jobs in various sectors. To ensure that the transition to automation in travel and tourism will be made in a responsible and accountable manner, this study conceptualizes how automation, found to be driven largely by labor shortage, can be used to promote decent work. Utilizing Grounded Theory to analyze data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with industry practitioners, this study provides rich descriptions of the transformation brought by automation to companies, employees, and wider society and develops a theoretical model to explain ?Decent Work through Automation? (DW?A). In doing so, this study opens a pathway for further research on technology and decent work in tourism, including second- and third-order impacts of emerging technology. The paper offers practitioners and policymakers guidelines for responsible adoption of automation.