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Artificial intelligence technologies (AI) have been heralded as the next industrial revolution in the current state of globalized digital capitalism, with the potential to bring higher productivity gains, the automation and substitution of significant labor tasks, and new forms of innovation and business models. While the automation and augmentation potentials of AI technologies receive a lot of attention, the reconfiguration of innovation processes has also become a research focus in recent years. In this chapter, we situate the innovation dynamics of current AI production within the broader industrial developments and strategies towards a digital economy in which (digital) data plays an increasingly important role in forming new value chains. There are two sides to this reconfiguration. The first side is the emerging innovation systems in which AI is developed; these innovation systems are controlled to a considerable extent by a few tech companies, while also representing hybrids of (a) commercial and corporate innovation processes and (b) network-like collaborations of Big Tech, ecosystems of start-ups, and open-source communities. The second side is the application of AI in innovation processes; there has been a lot research into AI as a general-purpose technology and a method of innovation with the potential to change innovation processes in a broad range of sectors and companies.

Rezensierte Publikationen: Michael Heinlein / Norbert Huchler (Hrsg.), Künstliche Intelligenz, Mensch und Gesellschaft: Soziale Dynamiken und gesellschaftliche Folgen einer Innovation. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2024, 530 S., br., 59,99 € Hartmut Hirsch-Kreinsen, Das Versprechen der Künstlichen Intelligenz: Gesellschaftliche Dynamik einer Schlüsseltechnologie. Frankfurt am Main/New York: Campus 2023, 300 S., br., 35,00 € James Muldoon / Mark Graham / Callum Cant, Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labour Powering AI. Edinburgh: Canongate 2024, 274 S., gb., 24,00 € Cecilia Rikap, Capitalism, Power and Innovation: Intellectual Monopoly Capitalism Uncovered. London: Routledge 2022, 314 S., br., 49,57 €

The digital transformation of industries has given rise to new categories of tech workers, such as software engineers and UX/UI designers, who now work alongside traditional engineers. This study explores the evolving relationship between these groups, focusing on work processes, status perceptions and professional interactions. The research questions addressed include: how has digitalisation affected these two groups’ work processes? what strategies do they use to maintain or improve their career paths? and how do their roles converge or diverge? Using qualitative data from interviews and workshops in a German automotive company undergoing a digital and electric mobility transformation, the study finds both competition and cooperation between engineers and IT professionals, with the former adopting some IT work methods and the latter adjusting to the highly structured processes of the industrial sector. Despite growing overlaps, distinct professional identities nevertheless remain.

The study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digitalization and organizational changes in companies across different sectors in Germany. The research addresses the extent to which the pandemic accelerated digitalization, the variations in digitalization focus among companies, and the interplay between technological and organizational changes. Data were collected through surveys conducted in two waves in 2021 and 2022, encompassing 540 and 605 companies, respectively. The research employed ordered logistic regression to analyze the factors influencing digitalization investments. Key findings indicate that the pandemic acted as a catalyst for digitalization, with management awareness and employee acceptance being significant drivers. Notably, there were disparities in digitalization efforts, influenced by the economic impact of the pandemic, sectoral differences, and prior levels of digitalization. While companies with existing digital infrastructure initially led the way, less digitalized companies began to catch up over time. Organizational changes, such as new leadership concepts, cross-functional cooperation, and flexible working hours, were also linked to increased digitalization efforts. The study concludes that the pandemic has not only accelerated technological changes but also necessitated parallel organizational transformations to support these developments.