Cognitive Automation and its Impacts on Skill Erosion of Individuals

Learning Outcomes

Within the two hours of this master class, you will:

• Gain insights into cognitive automation's impact on knowledge work.
• Understand the dynamics related to employees’ skills and the organizational implementation of cognitive automation tools
• Grasp the concepts of automation reliance and automation complacency
• Think about how unintended skill erosion of employees might be avoided in the participant’s own organization

Content and Schedule

Led by Aalto University experts this Master Class will demonstrate how increasing reliance on automation fosters complacency at both individual and organizational levels, weakening workers’ mindfulness across three work task facets (activity awareness, competence maintenance, and output assessment), resulting in skill erosion. Such erosion of skills may go unnoticed, unacknowledged by both workers and managers.

Meet your instructors
Introduction to the topic: Defining Cognitive Automation and Introducing the Two Sides of Skill Erosion
The first part of the master class: Case of Skill Erosion in a Financial Accounting Organization
Discussion session
The second part of the master class: Uncovering the Dynamics of Skill Erosion on Individual and Organizational Levels
Discussion session
Key Takeaways

For Whom?

This Master Class is relevant for all practitioners involved in projects that aim to automate knowledge work tasks whether it is with rule-based automation like robotic process automation or with artificial intelligence such as machine learning-enabled systems (e.g., business experts, managers, IT experts, IT managers, CIOs, HR experts).