The Rise of Quasi-Humans in AI Fueled Organizations, an Ultimate socio-materiality approach to the Lens of Michel Serres

Abstract

Background: Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are reinventing industries through offering organizations the opportunity to realize formerly impossible innovations. Views about the role of AI in social change remain nevertheless controversial; on the one hand, it poses major ethical challenges and on the other hand, it is believed to be a tool for social good. The journey from assisted, to augmented, then to autonomous intelligence is part of a growing trend thus transforming firms into AI-fueled organizations. Among scholars and practitioners, there is a mounting recognition of the need to understand the potential collaboration of humans and machines and its implications for organizations. Method: We draw on the Sociomateriality theory and on Serres’ ontological view of the quasi-object/quasi-subject to explain the interplay between the social and the material in organizational settings. We propose a four-dimensional model that profiles future organizations populated with humanized machines and augmented humans. Results: We propose a new ontological perspective for the understanding of ultimate Sociomateriality, extending the sociomateriality theory. We contribute to organizational development theory through discussing the implications of ultimate sociomateriality for organizational practices, and through proposing the 4E matrix with the four dimensions for AI-fueled organizations. Conclusion: We shed the light on the interaction of the social and the material in the AI era. We proposed a theoretical development of the ultimate Sociomateriality theory based on Serres’ philosophy, as well as a four-dimensional matrix (4E matrix) which profiles AI-fueled and quasi-human populated organizations. Practically, we inform technology providers to create AI machines that serve humanity and organizations instead of destroying it, and inform public policy makers and NGOs to act as regulators for human rights, highlighting the need to rethink business education to develop human skills while redefining human roles within organizations in order to avoid being ravaged by the AI revolution.