Humans in the loop - Mapping the current critical debate on AI in the Information Systems discipline

Abstract: AI is a phenomenon that does not only manifest itself as a disruptive technology, but also entails a paradigmatic shift with conceivably unprecedented and unforeseeable consequences for society and the human condition. This technology with its components Big Data and Machine Learning/algorithms has evoked critical reactions because of ethical concerns that follow on the backwash of its ubiquitous and ever more expanding use. Whose voices are presently raised and what contributions can actually be expected from the information systems (IS) discipline – an academic field that is prone to scrutinize phenomena that emerge when the social and technological system interact? By reviewing a systematically defined selection of the latest IS research literature and analyzing the critical perspectives, this study displays current themes in the IS discipline concerning critique of AI. The accumulation and clustering of the results can provide an answer to the question of what themes appear in the critique of AI in the IS discipline and whether a critical standpoint towards detrimental effects of AI use in society is formed. Social critique, which has no longstanding tradition in IS research, would be necessary to succeed in offering a well-informed and science-based guidance on how to face AI as a society and with the human condition as a focal point.