AI and Algorithms at Work: How and Why Humans Trust and React to AI and Algorithms in the Workplace

Organizations increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) in their business decisions or processes. Despite commonly observed performance advantages, humans often treat such devices and recommendation systems in an irrational manner. For example, humans may overly trust or distrust an AI even in situations when they should not. Moreover, AI used in settings such as personnel selection is often viewed with skepticism – and past research on why, how, and when such perceptions towards AI in personnel selection emerge is ill-developed. This symposium will showcase several contexts in which humans show different types of reactions and (dis)trust towards algorithms to shed light on the fragmented and heterogeneous literature on human-AI interaction in personnel selection and workplaces in general. We will introduce new and critical theoretical lenses to better understand how humans treat and react towards AI in workplaces with main focus on (dis)trust towards AI and reactions towards AI in personnel selection. The studies and papers included in this symposium will focus on different types of AI and algorithms, including machine- or deep-learning-based algorithms and AI as well as AI-powered chatbots and humanoid robots. In sum, we will provide a broader, theory-driven and more holistic understanding of human-AI interaction at work that puts both parties of this equation front and center.