TY - JOUR
T1 - Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work
T2 - A Functional-Identity Perspective
AU - Selenko, Eva
AU - Bankins, Sarah
AU - Shoss, Mindy
AU - Warburton, Joel
AU - Restubog, Simon Lloyd D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - The impact of the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) on workers’ experiences remains underexamined. Although AI-enhanced processes can benefit workers (e.g., by assisting with exhausting or dangerous tasks), they can also elicit psychological harm (e.g., by causing job loss or degrading work quality). Given AI’s uniqueness among other technologies, resulting from its expanding capabilities and capacity for autonomous learning, we propose a functional-identity framework to examine AI’s effects on people’s work-related self-understandings and the social environment at work. We argue that the conditions for AI to either enhance or threaten workers’ sense of identity derived from their work depends on how the technology is functionally deployed (by complementing tasks, replacing tasks, and/or generating new tasks) and how it affects the social fabric of work. Also, how AI is implemented and the broader social-validation context play a role. We conclude by outlining future research directions and potential application of the proposed framework to organizational practice.
AB - The impact of the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) on workers’ experiences remains underexamined. Although AI-enhanced processes can benefit workers (e.g., by assisting with exhausting or dangerous tasks), they can also elicit psychological harm (e.g., by causing job loss or degrading work quality). Given AI’s uniqueness among other technologies, resulting from its expanding capabilities and capacity for autonomous learning, we propose a functional-identity framework to examine AI’s effects on people’s work-related self-understandings and the social environment at work. We argue that the conditions for AI to either enhance or threaten workers’ sense of identity derived from their work depends on how the technology is functionally deployed (by complementing tasks, replacing tasks, and/or generating new tasks) and how it affects the social fabric of work. Also, how AI is implemented and the broader social-validation context play a role. We conclude by outlining future research directions and potential application of the proposed framework to organizational practice.
KW - artificial intelligence
KW - complementing tasks
KW - generating tasks
KW - identity threat
KW - meaning of work
KW - replacing tasks
KW - technological change
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132297608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85132297608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/09637214221091823
DO - 10.1177/09637214221091823
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132297608
SN - 0963-7214
VL - 31
SP - 272
EP - 279
JO - Current Directions in Psychological Science
JF - Current Directions in Psychological Science
IS - 3
ER -