A colleague named Max: A critical inquiry into affects when an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot enters the workplace

Abstract

During this research seminar, I will offer a critical inquiry into the faltering entry of an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot, an algorithm without physical or visual form, into the workplace in a media consultancy company. While living a digital life in the virtual world, the ro(bot) was given a human name. During the seminar, I will highlight the unexpected consequences the humanisation of an early form of artificial intelligence (AI) has on the affects circulating between people and the new technology and between members of different organisational groups. I will argue that anthropomorphising technologies such as AI influences the affective life of organisations and amplifies existing discontent between organisational members, complicating the introduction of the technology. Focusing on human–AI interaction, my analysis will reveal a rift between managers who are excited and hopeful about the future capabilities of AI and employees who are frustrated and angry about its present shortcomings. I will conclude that collective affects play a central role in contemporary technology driven organisations in which the role people play in relation to the avalanche of AI technologies is often neglected.

Presented by

Violetta Khoreva is Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at Hanken School of Economics (Finland). Her research focuses on managing people and Artificial Intelligence in various institutes including Finnish organizations and Nordic Multinational enterprises. She has a special interest in exploring the integration of artificially intelligent colleagues into workplace ecosystems. Her research has been published in Human Resource Management, Human Relations, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Career Development International, Journal of Managerial Psychology, and other outlets. She currently serves as a guest editor at Human Resource Management.