Responsible Partner: RWTH Aachen University
AI-based decision support systems create new opportunities for decision-making and co-determination in companies, raising the question of whether and how democratization can take place in this context. To explore this, we introduced a conceptual approach for analyzing democratization efforts and examined specific challenges through a case study of an SME. A key aspect of democratization through MAS is the concept of representation, which plays a crucial role in ensuring meaningful worker participation. This representation can be developed considering three key aspects. First, MAS functions as a form of indirect representation, serving as a mediating instance between workers and the respective production situations where concrete allocation decisions must be made. Second, this indirect representation should be conceptualized and developed as a layered model with various options and levels of representation, as structured mediation processes are essential to maintaining decision-making capacity within the organization. Third, these layers help refine specific functionalities that connect the technical representation within MAS to the requirements of workers. In this sense, developing the concept first requires establishing a well-structured ‘nested representation’.
Find more information at: https://innovationshop.fairwork-project.eu/items/19/