## 2 AI's Benefits for Business and Peculiarities for SMEs
In many SMEs, human interaction--characterized by empathy, emotional nuance, and personal touch--remains a cornerstone of a satisfying service experience [39]. AI's lack of emotional intelligence, impersonal tone, or perceived manipulation can erode service quality and diminish customer trust. This tension between automation and human interaction in service delivery calls for a deeper understanding of how AI affects traditional service marketing principles. Strategies are needed to mitigate these downsides, such as hybrid models that combine AI efficiency with human empathy [40]. **(b) Enhanced personalized customer service and the role of human interaction**  
AI provides powerful opportunities for improving personalized customer relationships, allowing organizations to customize products, services, and marketing to customer preferences. This can improve consumer satisfaction, engagement, and corporate performance. AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots are improving customer support in many sectors such as e-commerce (for instance, Amazon); retail (for instance, customized marketing campaigns and offers); travel and hospitality; financial services; banking and insurance; healthcare, etc., [41]. Customer transactions, account queries, personalized financial planning, personalized treatment strategies that increase patient care or early detection of disease, and real-time support and assistance to suit consumer requests are some examples. Chatbots can answer questions about products, orders, and troubleshooting, and deliver accurate and personalized responses quickly, ensuring a smooth customer service experience. Customer satisfaction increases when clients wait less for human support. However, virtual assistants learn from consumers' interactions and preferences to enhance personalization. They can read natural language requests for more advanced and customized help. Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant can schedule reminders, make reservations, and answer complex queries based on user preferences [42]. For SMEs, AI also provides powerful opportunities for improving personalized customer relationships, which are essential to foster loyalty and differentiate themselves in competitive markets [43]. For instance, ref. [44] demonstrate how AI can facilitate seamless engagement across multiple digital channels by analyzing customer feedback and sentiment in real time, allowing businesses to make timely improvements and address concerns promptly. Chatbots, virtual assistants, etc., enable SMEs to deliver more agile, tailored, and around-the-clock services. These tools reduce staff workload, boost efficiency, and allow businesses to provide unique experiences to individual customers. Nonetheless, these systems are not without drawbacks. When AI interactions fail to meet user expectations, the resulting dissatisfaction can negatively impact customer trust. **(c) Predictive analytics integrated with human knowledge**  
Predictive AI involves using AI tools to identify patterns, anticipate behaviors, and forecast upcoming events. Normally, with data-driven decision-making, AI can analyze data from various sources to provide SMEs with valuable insights for making informed decisions about production planning and inventory management [37]. Businesses can use predictive AI in the domains of strategic planning, resource allocation, and problem-solving. Using big data analytics, AI can predict potential future outcomes, causation, risk exposure, and equipment failures before they occur, as well as identifying bottlenecks, optimizing workflows, and allocating resources more effectively, etc. The example of financial services is conclusive [45]. AI can also improve control, identifying defects and anomalies in real time, leading to higher product quality and reduced waste. For instance, applied to agriculture, AI improves farm monitoring and aids in the mapping of agricultural zones, soil management, crop husbandry, irrigation disease, yield estimation, and harvesting [46].