- Service science has progressed significantly in the past two decades since its inception in the early 2000s. - However, there is still a long way to go to fully realize the potential of service science and its role in areas like upskilling with AI. - Looking ahead, some of the biggest challenges will be upskilling entire nations with AI for digital transformation, while also decarbonizing nations through sustainable energy infrastructure - both accomplished through service-based business models.

1. ICServ2023
Service Science: Past, Present, Future
Jim Spohrer
Retired IBM Executive
UDIP Senior Fellow & Member ISSIP.org
Questions: spohrer@gmail.com
Twitter: @JimSpohrer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spohrer/
Slack: https://slack.lfai.foundation
Presentations online at: https://slideshare.net/spohrer
Thanks to Prof. Kazuyoshi Hidaka for the opportunity to discuss
Service Science: Past, Present, Future
Thur Sept 14, 2023 13:30 JST/ Wed Sept 13 9:30pm PT USA
Highly recommend:
Humankind: A Hopeful History
By Dutch Historian, Rutger Bregman
<- Thanks
To Ray Fisk
For suggesting
this book, see
My summary here.

2. Overlap
Acknowledgement: E. Noei, S. Brisson, Y. Liu
Via Kelly Lyons, NAE Talk Oct 2022
2010
2019
2
Service science has come a long way in two decades…
2004-2011
9/14/2023 Jim Spohrer (ISSIP.org)

3. … but we still
have a long
way to go.
https://blog.irvingwb.com/blog/
December 1, 2022
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4. What skills/expertise does
a service scientist require?
What degrees can
a service scientist earn?
Ultimately, what tool(s) will
a service scientist most need?
Ultimately, what purpose should
a service scientist focus on?
- How best to learn to invest wisely
In win-win interaction & change?
- Responsible actors (with Digital Twins)
becoming better future versions of themselves.
Year Delighted when… … and many people to thank when…
2023 Service in the AI Era (Spohrer, Maglio, Vargo, Warg)
Upskilling with Generative AI, Digital Twins
2022 SSME and T-shaped Skills mentioned in Nick Donofrio Autobiography
2021 Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to Service Discipline Award
IBMer Utpal Mangla, Elected to 2022 ISSIP VP/2023 President role
2020 Linux Foundation AI & Data TAC Chair Elected – open-source trusted AI
2019 Handbook of Service Science, Volume 2
2018 IBMer Rama Akkiraju, President of ISSIP
2017 Daniel Berg Award for Technology and Service Systems Award (IAITQM)
2016 NSF invests $13M in smart, human-centered Service Systems
2015 IBMer Jeff Welser, President of ISSIP
2014 IBM hosted Frontiers in Service Conference in San Jose, CA
2013 Vargo & Lusch S-D Logic Award, E. Gummesson Award (Naples Forum)
PICMET Fellow for Advancing Service Science
2012 International Society of Service Innovation Professionals established
2011 IBM Centennial Icon-of-Progress – including SSME and Smarter Planet
2010 Handbook of Service Science, Volume 1
(Prof. Kazuyoshi Hidaka led Japanese version)
2009 Robin Qiu launches INFORMS Journal of Service Science
2008 Cambridge Report – “Succeeding Through Service Innovation”
HICSS starts a service scince mini-track Paul Maglio/Furen Lin
2007 SSME in USA America COMPETES Act Congressional Legislation
IBM hosted Frontiers in Service Conference in San Francisco, CA
2006 IBM Research Awards for CBM, Data Analytics, Solution, etc. tools
2005 Attended fist Frontiers in Service – ”Big tent” getting bigger
2004 USA, China, Japan, Finland, Germany, India, etc. launch knowledge-
intensive service initiatives (45 countries, 500+ universities)
2003 ”Big Tent” Service Conference at IBM Almaden, SSME Faculty Awards
2002 IBM established Almaden Service Research (ASR) group

5. The Future
Service is the application of resources (e.g., knowledge) for the benefit of another*
* another includes your future self and future generations as well.
The two greatest challenges of the 21st century are simultaneously
upskilling entire nations with AI (knowledge infrastructure, digital transformation)
while decarbonizing entire nations (energy infrastructure, physical transformation).
And accomplishing both with globally sustainable as-a-service models - servitization.
“Service providers
will not be replaced by AI,
but trusted service providers
who use AI (well and
responsibly)
will replace those who don’t.”

6. What are the biggest innovations in human
history?
• <<< list your favorite innovation –
and then think about the service
system that it is part of – what
people, what skills, what tools,
what organizations, what
government institutions? >>>
• OpenAI DALL-E Prompt: A picture
of fire, the wheel, electricity, the
microscope, the steam engine,
the computer, gadgets, systems,
and the greatest innovations in
human history

7. Sprint ”warm up exercise”
• Open three tabs in your browser (you may have to login, if first time using…)
• Chatgpt.openai.com
• Bard.google.com
• Claude.anthropic.com
• Type in the following prompt into each generative AI tool:
• "Please create a table that lists the following innovations in column 1: Plow, Cities, Writing,
Standard Measures, Written Laws, Money, Compound Interest, Compass, Universities, Clock,
Steam Engine, Constitutional Government, Universal Education, Lightbulbs, Automobile,
Installment Payment Plans,, Credit Cards, Online Trust (e.g., eBay reputation system), Ride
sharing, Room sharing. Please also include a second column with the approximate year of
invention. Please add a third column with the major benefit of the innovation. Please add a
fourth column with any harms created or enabled by the innovation.”
• Note:
• With generative AI, sometimes it is better to build the table one column at a time. This
allows the LLM to have incrementally helpful context for biasing the probabilities during
generation.

8. Example Results
ChatGPT_OpenAI Bard_Google Claude_Anthropic

9. Request
• Please take the ISSIP Tech For Good Survey – just 2 minutes
• https://tinyurl.com/ISSIPTechForGood
• $100 prize for any physical innovation that only created benefits and
no harms… send your ideas to spohrer@gmail.com
• Automobile: +transportation, -accidents
• Buttons: +clothing, -choking-hazard

10. Why upskilling with AI trend is important for service systems thinking
Talent development is moving from I to T to X (eXtended with AI)
Jim Spohrer (ISSIP.org) 10
6 T-shape Skills
Knowledge Areas
To be eXtended
By AI tools:
1. Disciplines
2. Systems/Industry
3. Cultures/Geos
4. Emerging Tech
5. Work Practices
6. Mindsets
9/14/2023

11. Read Wakefield
(2020)
enough to
understand what a
”digital twin” of
you might be like in
the future decades
with very advanced
AI capabilities.
Also see Rouse
(2018; 2022) ”Life
with a Cognitive
Assistant.”
Jim Spohrer (ISSIP.org) 11
AI Tools
in coming
decades…
9/14/2023

12. 9/14/2023 Jim Spohrer (ISSIP.org) 12

13. Jim Spohrer is a Silicon Valley-based Advisor to industry, academia, governments,
startups and non-profits on topics of AI upskilling, innovation strategy, and win-
win service in the AI era. Most recently with a consulting team working for a top
10 market cap global company, he contributed to a strategic plan for a globally
connected AI Academy for achieving rapid, nation-scale upskilling with AI. With
the US National Academy of Engineering, he co-led a 2022 workshop on “Service
Systems Engineering in the Era of Human-Centered AI” to improve well-being.
Jim is a retired IBM Executive since July 2021, and previously directed IBM’s open-
source Artificial Intelligence developer ecosystem effort, was CTO IBM Venture
Capital Group, co-founded IBM Almaden Service Research, and led IBM Global
University Programs. In the 1990’s at Apple Computer, as a Distinguished Engineer
Scientist and Technologist, he was executive lead on next generation learning
platforms. In the 1970’s, after his MIT BS in Physics, he developed speech
recognition systems at Verbex (Exxon) before receiving his Yale PhD in Computer
Science/AI. In 1989, prior to joining Apple, he was a visiting scholar at the
University of Rome, La Sapienza advising doctoral students working on AI and
Education dissertations. With over ninety publications and nine patents, he
received the Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Service Discipline
award, Gummesson Service Research award, Vargo and Lusch Service-Dominant
Logic award, Daniel Berg Service Systems award, and a PICMET Fellow for
advancing service science. Jim was elected and previously served as Linux
Foundation AI & Data Technical Advisory Board Chairperson and ONNX Steering
Committee Member (2020-2021). Today, he is a UIDP Senior Fellow for
contributions to industry-university collaborations, and a member of the Board of
Directors of the International Society of Service Innovation (ISSIP) and ServCollab.
Jim Spohrer, Advisor
Retired Industry Executive (Apple, IBM)
UIDP Senior Fellow
Board of Directors, ServCollab
Board of Directors, ISSIP.org
Changemaker Priorities
1. Service Innovation
2. Upskilling with AI
3. Future Universities
4. Geothermal Energy
5. Poverty Reduction
6. Regional Development
Competitive Parity
Technologies
1. AI & Robotics
2. Digital Twins
3. Open Source
4. AR/VR/XR
5. Geothermal
6. Learning
Platforms
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