Cognitive systems for improving decision-making in the workplace: an explorative study within the waste management field

Purpose –Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help in defining preventive strategies in taking decisions in complex situations. We contribute to deepening how workers might deal with intervening AI tools aiming at improving their daily working decisions and movements. We investigate these aspects within a field, which is growing in importance due to environmental sustainability issues, that is Waste Management (WM). Design/methodology/approach – This manuscript intends: i) to investigate if AI allows better performance in WM by reducing social security costs and by guaranteeing a better continuity of service; ii) to examine which structural change is required to operationalise this predictive risk model in the real working context. To achieve these goals, this study developed a qualitative inquiry based on face-to-face interviews with highly qualified experts. Findings – There is a positive impact of AI schemes in helping to detect critical operating issues. Specifically, AI potentially represents a tool for an alignment of operational behaviours to business strategic goals. Properly elaborated information, obtained through wearable digital infrastructures, allows to take decisions to streamline the work organization, reducing potential loss due to waste of time and/or physical resources. Research limitations/implications – Being a qualitative study, and the limited extension of data, it is not possible to guarantee on its replication and generalizability. Nevertheless, the prestige of the interviewees makes this research an interesting pilot, on such an emerging theme as AI, thus eliciting stimulating insights from a deepening of information coming from respondents’ knowledge, skills, and experience for implementing valuable AI schemes able to an align operational behaviours to business strategic goals. Practical implications – The most critical issue is represented by the “quality” of the feedback provided to employees within the business environment., specifically when there is a transfer of knowledge within the organization. Originality/value – The study focuses on a less investigated context, the role of AI in internal decision-making, particularly for what regards the interaction between managers and workers as well as the one among workers. Algorithmically managed workers can be seen as the players of summarised results of complex algorithmic analyses offered through simpleminded interfaces, which they can easily use to take good decisions.