Please join us for CIRES HDR, Krishna Dermawans’s, PhD Progress Review milestone seminar.

Discursive Legitimation For AI Implementation

Speaker: Krishna Dermawan

ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the legitimacy of artificial intelligence (AI) implementations through discourse analysis. Because AI is such a hyped topic, staff perceptions about AI vary widely. In organisations intending to implement AI, managers must clearly explain what AI means for their organisations, how it can integrate into their operations, and the benefits it will bring. In other words, managers need to legitimise AI in order to implement it. This thesis employs a sequential mixed-method study design in which the findings from a qualitative field study is enriched through hypothesis testing. Qualitative data is collected in the form of managerial rhetoric for AI implementation in an Australian healthcare context. These findings are used to create two separate surveys, one for internal stakeholders and another for external stakeholders, to test the effects of managerial discourse on respondents’ legitimacy perceptions. This thesis aims to contribute to the managing-AI literature, and to guide practitioners build the legitimacy of their AI strategies through discourse.