Robots and Organization Studies: Why Robots Might Not Want to Steal Your Job

A number of recent high-profile studies of robotics and artificial intelligence (or AI) in economics and sociology have predicted that many jobs will soon disappear due to automation, with few new ones replacing them. While techno-optimists and techno-pessimists contest whether a jobless future is a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization studies Vol. 40; no. 1; pp. 23 - 38
Main Author: Fleming, Peter
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2019
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:
Artificial intelligence
Automation
Computerization
Employment
Machine learning
Occupations
Optimism
Organization studies
Robotics
Robots
Social justice
Sociology
Technology
Work
work
robotics
unemployment
neoliberalism
public organization studies
artificial intelligence
bounded automation
ISSN:0170-8406, 1741-3044
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:A number of recent high-profile studies of robotics and artificial intelligence (or AI) in economics and sociology have predicted that many jobs will soon disappear due to automation, with few new ones replacing them. While techno-optimists and techno-pessimists contest whether a jobless future is a positive development or not, this paper points to the elephant in the room. Despite successive waves of computerization (including advanced machine learning), jobs have not disappeared. And probably won’t in the near future. To explain why, some basic insights from organization studies can make a contribution. I propose the concept of ‘bounded automation’ to demonstrate how organizational forces mould the application of technology in the employment sector. If work does not vanish in the age of AI, then poorly paid jobs will most certainly proliferate, I argue. Finally, a case is made for the scholarly community to engage with wider social justice concerns. This I term public organization studies.
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ISSN:0170-8406
1741-3044
DOI:10.1177/0170840618765568