Emerging Ties
University of Malta (Valletta Campus)
Intelligent Automation Systems – Co-constituting Human and Machine View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Luciana Blaha
This paper conceptualises the mutual relationship between human and ‘artificial’ intelligence as intelligent automation systems (IAS). The paper exemplifies the variety of technologies purchased by organisations (various forms of artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data analysis) which shape knowledge work (Coombs et al, 2020). Secondly, we show how such technologies and their conditions shape human roles (Faraj et al, 2018) and interactions, questioning the development assumptions behind them as well. The relevance of this research lies in highlighting the importance of approaching the dynamic between humans and machines as an ongoing, mutually-influencing relationship, and thus investigating technologies within the wider sociotechnical system of the organisation. To frame this, we propose an overview of IAS using systems thinking literature, reviewing it through the lens of posthumanist work such as that of Castaneda and Suchman (2014), and its place in organizations (Orlikowski, 2010). The data informing this review is based on an empirical case study of organizational adoption of IAS (Blaha, 2021). The data consists of documentary evidence, social media analysis, and chatbot interactions, investigated through thematic analysis. We show that organizations indeed employ varied and distinct ‘intelligent’ technologies, which have varying extent of impact on human roles, practices, and reactions. Furthermore, as the sum of these interactions have wider implications collectively within the organization, we identify benefits to adopting a systems approach, such as overcoming silo-thinking, and thus silo-development, developing organizational learning, and supporting management decision-making.
When Should Knowledge and Observation Gleaned From Novel Technology Be Considered “Science” by Society?: Does Theory Trump Empiricism in Our Modern Scientific Method? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Peter Mark Jansson
This paper focuses on the evolutionary development of this sensing technology and the system and summarizes previous repeatable observations. While the initial device that produced anomalous results looks very different from the embodiment described herein as version 4, much has been learned over the past two decades about how and when our technology enables electromagnetic detection of an interaction appearing consistent with an inertial reaction force. This paper describes our current sensor array in sufficient detail for others to replicate our investigations now published in multiple venues. The joint probability that our 11 independent results could have been achieved randomly is now very low and, of note, always signals the Sun, the center of our galaxy or the center of our supercluster of galaxies as potential sources. The knowledge gained by this work challenges today’s view of the role empiricism must play in building a more robust, fact-based and scientific description of reality. We contend that the gold standard for determining when a novel technology becomes a true ‘scientific’ device should depend on its ability to create repeatable evidence from Nature rather than its congruence with current, accepted scientific paradigms.
