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

Fleming, P

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

Fleming, P

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Organization Studies, 2019, 40 (1), pp. 23 - 38
Issue Date:: 2019-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fleming, P	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Organization Studies, 2019, 40 (1), pp. 23 - 38	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0170-8406	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/129330
dc.description.abstract	© The Author(s) 2018. 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.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Organization Studies	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/0170840618765568	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management	en_US
dc.title	Robots and Organization Studies: Why Robots Might Not Want to Steal Your Job	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	40	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	40	en_US

Abstract:

© The Author(s) 2018. 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.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/129330