Using Instrumental Mechanisms to Support Humanistic Goals: The Case of Two Intelligent Personal Assistants

Abstract

Calls have been made for information systems to go beyond supporting the instrumental outcomes traditionally associated with business imperatives to foster more humanistic outcomes. This study explores the mechanisms used by two intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) to promote humanistic goals such as pro-social behaviour. We identify four key mechanisms through which the IPAs support humanistic goals and draw on humanistic management literature to identify the humanistic goals supported. The mechanisms are (1) humanistic framing of analytics and goals, (2) persuasion, (3) automation of humanistic actions, and (4) anchoring humanistic goals to instrumental outcomes. The study raises issues about the moral implications of instrumentalising humanistic outcomes and suggests a need for theory to understand the role of Human-AI interaction in promoting humanistic outcomes. We propose a need for investigations into how and whether human-AI interactions can foster authentic humanistic outcomes in practice.