Work activities mediated by Artificial Intelligence: new work models, pedagogical complexities, and Ethical Challenges

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing work contexts, introducing new models of interaction and collaboration between humans and machines. AI is no longer just a technological tool but a collaborative entity that influences the work environment. Powered by advanced algorithms and increasingly accessible and affordable computing power, AI is spreading across all sectors (Acemoglu & Restrepo, 2018). This phenomenon generates significant opportunities but also considerable risks. Although current technological transformations are closely connected to previous historical developments, such as modernization and post-industrialization, the innovations brought by new digital technologies are of a different and deeper nature, and AI represents an unprecedented turning point compared to the past. AI “is not mere technological advancement, but a metamorphosis of all technologies” (Elliot, 2021). Unlike past technologies, new technologies have characteristics that make them much more pervasive and ubiquitous in our lives, so they cannot be considered merely optional tools. Besides having a different qualitative nature, new technologies are characterized by a quantitative phenomenon that distinguishes them from many other technologies: the computing power, memory, and data transmission capacity of information systems that are growing at increasingly rapid rates, doubling every year and a half (Caligiore, 2022). In the past, these technologies, mainly based on the automation of production processes, played an important role almost exclusively in replacing heavy manual labor. Now, things are changing. We are facing a phase of technological acceleration, with a multiple effect resulting from the simultaneous growth of several innovative components that intertwine and amplify their respective capacities. Three technologies-AI, Data, and Cloud- represent the so-called digital core of companies and countries and will be the true drivers of change and future value creation. The transformation will affect both the private and the public sector, facing three major challenges: implementing the digital core, adapting skills, and organizational transformation (Di Matteo & Zuccarelli, 2024). 

This article specifically examines organizational transformation and how AI is mediating work activities, with an analysis of the benefits, ethical challenges, and pedagogical complexities emerging from this transformation emphasizing the evolution of collaboration models between humans and machine, illustrating how they can work together by examining concrete cases of companies using AI as a “collaborator”. Moreover, the article delves into the ethical and pedagogical challenges arising from the integration of AI in work contexts. Communication and coordination between human workers and AI systems can be problematic, requiring new skills and organizational adaptations. Consequently, worker training must evolve to enable effective interaction with AI systems, and educational institutions must face the challenge of preparing students for a continuously evolving work environment, promoting collaborative and interdisciplinary learning. Additionally, there are complex and multidimensional ethical implications: the responsibility for decisions made by AI, worker autonomy, and privacy protection are issues that require careful reflection (Floridi, 2022).