WEO Research Seminar: Reclaiming Human Meaning in the Age of AI

Event Date: 16 June 2026

Speaker: Dr Fern W. Sucher, Assistant Professor in Tourism and Hospitality Management, Graduate School of Tourism Management, National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok

Time: 14:30 - 15:30 GMT

Location: CW406a, Cathedral Wing, Strathclyde Business School

Abstract:

Artificial intelligence is not merely transforming service work; it is fundamentally reshaping the conditions under which human existence remains meaningful. While existing research has predominantly focused on efficiency, ethics, and human–AI collaboration, it has largely overlooked a critical question: what remains distinctively human when intelligent systems outperform humans in terms of performance, prediction, and personalisation?

Drawing on a multi-level empirical foundation spanning individual, team, and cultural analyses, this study identifies a consistent pattern: human value resides not in codifiable knowledge but in culturally embedded relational capabilities, such as interpersonal resonance, embodied empathy, and context-sensitive interaction. These capabilities resist algorithmic replication and constitute a strategic and ontological boundary for artificial intelligence.

Building on these findings, this study advances a theoretical shift by conceptualising AI as an evaluative and meaning-making infrastructure that shapes what is visible, valuable, and recognised in contemporary service systems. It argues that the central challenge is no longer task replacement, but the preservation of human meaning in increasingly algorithmic environments. The study concludes by proposing a reorientation of service research - from efficiency and optimisation toward meaning, experience, and human transformation.

Biography:

Dr Fern Sucher is a scholar in tourism and service research who explores how artificial intelligence reshapes human experience and meaning in service systems. Her work integrates empirical and theoretical approaches to examine evaluation, recognition, and relational capability, contributing to debates on human dignity and the future of services in an algorithmic world.

Published: 21 April 2026