Stig Johannessen
Postdoctoral research fellow at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
I am a Postdoc at the department of sociology and political science at NTNU that is working within the research group technology and society. I have a background in political science, economics, and psychology, but previously I’ve been pursuing a PhD in safety and risk related sciences. In my PhD work I looked at complex interactions in socio-enviro-technical systems that try to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change.
My Postdoc will focus on how AI and algorithms are understood, experienced, and used by employees and employers in Norwegian work life, and how these findings can help influence policy and regulation in the future. My work is motivated by interest to understand the relationship between measurement, quantification, standardization, application as representations of knowledge of natural, social, and technological phenomena.
Tell us about your project!
Investigations into employer and employee experiences with artificial intelligence and algorithmic management in Norway can serve as a venue for developing early insight into how this practice will impact the future of Norwegian work life. These technologies can both decrease and increase disparity, income inequality, and workers’ rights and health. On the one hand, leaving sorting and goal-setting to the algorithm can ensure it is meritocratically done. Conversely, experiences from other fields indicate that neglecting aspects to do with the supervision and non-supervision of the algorithm learning process can further increase disparity by preferring specific optimum criteria.
The starting point of this project is to investigate preconceptions about algorithms. Thereafter it will look at how Norwegian employers and employees understand and experience the use of them. This will allow for a dichotomy of the benefits and drawbacks of algorithm use in Norwegian work life, which may help inform future policy and regulation.
“My Postdoc will focus on how AI and algorithms are understood, experienced, and used by employees and employers in Norwegian work life, and how these findings can help influence policy and regulation in the future”
— Stig Johannessen on his research project “Being the tool or using the tool: the use of algorithmic management in Norwegian workplaces and gig-economy”