A matter of perspective: differential evaluations of artificial intelligence between managers and staff in an experimental simulation

ABSTRACT

This article tests whether managers and staff evaluate artificial intelligence (AI)-based process innovations differently. Scholars have argued perceptions of innovation vary systematically as a function of an individual’s position within organisations. We test for attitudinal differences between managers and staff via an online experimental simulation fielded among working-age Taiwanese citizens employed in public sector employment (n = 600). Respondents engage in a 12-round simulation. We experimentally vary whether the respondent receives support from an AI decision support tool. We assess pre-intervention and post-intervention attitudes towards the use of AI for a suite of organisational tasks, using a difference-in-difference estimation approach to identify the causal effect of organisational position on innovation evaluation. Our findings suggest managers are more supportive of AI as a decision support tool than staff, and remain so after the simulation. Managers also increased their support of AI tools to a larger degree than staff.

KEYWORDS:

• discretion
• innovation
• management
• artificial intelligence
• AI attitudes
• artificial discretion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. http://www.dataa.com.tw/applications/ezchoice.

2. We cannot estimate the cash equivalent value of these credits, as the full set of prizes and corresponding odds of winning for each lottery entry are proprietary information of EZChoice. But the lower bound value is $0.

3. https://www.ndc.gov.tw/en/Content_List.aspx?n=3B67C6308BE3AFE4.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Development Council, Taiwan [grant no. NDC-MIS-108-003].

Notes on contributors

Hsini Huang

Hsini Huang is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Graduate Institute of Public Affairs at National Taiwan University. DrHuang’s research interests centre on science and technology, E-governance, Innovation policy, and organisation theory.

Kyoung-Cheol (Casey) Kim

Kyoung-Cheol (Casey) Kim is a PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at University of Georgia. His research interests include bureaucracy, motivation and artificial intelligence. He concentrates on investigating how interventions of AI could transform conventional theoretical and practical functioning of humans, organisationsand society.

Matthew M. Young

Matthew M. Young is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. He studies technology and innovation, decision-makingand service delivery in the public sector.DrYoung’s primary research agenda focuses on public sector innovation implementation, particularly(AI)and related technologies.

Justin B. Bullock

Justin B. Bullock is an associate professor in the Public Service and Administration department and a research fellow in the Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy, the Mosbacher Institute, and the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy. DrBullock has a number of interests at the intersections of public administration,AI governanceand space governance.