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A sociotechnical perspective of Artificial Intelligence in the context of Industry 4.0: The impact of AI on the social dimension of sustainability

Rautiainen, Salla LU and Egloff, Patrick LU (2022) INFM10 20221
Department of Informatics
Abstract
Due to the increasingly concerning threat of climate change, organizations, including industrial companies, are pressured by various stakeholders to consider their impact on the environment, economy and society. The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) revolution enables companies to use new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address the challenge of making a positive impact on sustainability. However, research has shown that less attention has been paid to social sustainability, especially in the field of AI in the context of Industry 4.0. In this qualitative research, we interviewed AI and sustainability experts to develop a conceptual framework from a sociotechnical perspective that demonstrates how AI influences the impact of the... (More)
Due to the increasingly concerning threat of climate change, organizations, including industrial companies, are pressured by various stakeholders to consider their impact on the environment, economy and society. The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) revolution enables companies to use new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address the challenge of making a positive impact on sustainability. However, research has shown that less attention has been paid to social sustainability, especially in the field of AI in the context of Industry 4.0. In this qualitative research, we interviewed AI and sustainability experts to develop a conceptual framework from a sociotechnical perspective that demonstrates how AI influences the impact of the social dimension of sustainability. Based on our findings, AI is used in production to, for instance, automate repetitive tasks and help the worker be more efficient. However, AI is not yet used to its full capacity. Even though social sustainability is measured or planned to be measured in companies, the focus remains on the economic and environmental dimensions. Nevertheless, companies should not neglect social sustainability, and as our research shows, AI, when implemented in the right way with good communication and transparency, can impact positively the social dimension. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Rautiainen, Salla LU and Egloff, Patrick LU
supervisor
organization
course
INFM10 20221
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
report number
INF22-09
language
English
id
9085916
date added to LUP
2022-09-07 10:09:58
date last changed
2022-09-07 10:09:58
@misc{9085916,
  abstract     = {{Due to the increasingly concerning threat of climate change, organizations, including industrial companies, are pressured by various stakeholders to consider their impact on the environment, economy and society. The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) revolution enables companies to use new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address the challenge of making a positive impact on sustainability. However, research has shown that less attention has been paid to social sustainability, especially in the field of AI in the context of Industry 4.0. In this qualitative research, we interviewed AI and sustainability experts to develop a conceptual framework from a sociotechnical perspective that demonstrates how AI influences the impact of the social dimension of sustainability. Based on our findings, AI is used in production to, for instance, automate repetitive tasks and help the worker be more efficient. However, AI is not yet used to its full capacity. Even though social sustainability is measured or planned to be measured in companies, the focus remains on the economic and environmental dimensions. Nevertheless, companies should not neglect social sustainability, and as our research shows, AI, when implemented in the right way with good communication and transparency, can impact positively the social dimension.}},
  author       = {{Rautiainen, Salla and Egloff, Patrick}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A sociotechnical perspective of Artificial Intelligence in the context of Industry 4.0: The impact of AI on the social dimension of sustainability}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}