Towards Human-Centric Futures: An Affordance Perspective on the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Posted: 6 Jan 2021 Last revised: 11 Oct 2021

See all articles by Nigel P. Melville

Nigel P. Melville

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business; University of Michigan, College of Engineering

Lionel Robert

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information

Date Written: May 1, 2021

Abstract

The current era of technology-enabled change is often referred to as the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Information systems research into the 4IR largely adopts a techno-economic perspective, according to which rapidly advancing digital technologies enable productivity-enhancing industrial innovations. As a result, insufficient knowledge is generated about such important issues as the implications of the 4IR for human welfare and environmental sustainability. In response, an affordance perspective on the 4IR is developed, which de-emphasizes technology and related deceptions and focuses on action possibilities and human agency. Analysis yields four machine affordances that emulate human cognition and communication: enhanced decision making, human-centered interaction, generativity, and extensible resource sharing. The affordance perspective on the 4IR involves machines that can sense, understand, interact, and react - opening new discourse and suggesting new research streams that transcend the techno-economic while building on existing research. Overall, the analysis centrally situates human agency in determining how and for what purpose evolving 4IR affordances are enacted - countering the presumption that an industry vision for a technology-infused future is inevitable.

Keywords: Fourth industrial revolution, 4IR, affordances, artificial intelligence, human welfare, environmental sustainability.

JEL Classification: M15, O30, O32

Suggested Citation

Melville, Nigel P. and Robert, Lionel, Towards Human-Centric Futures: An Affordance Perspective on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (May 1, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3728052 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3728052

Nigel P. Melville (Contact Author)

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )

701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI MI 48109
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nigelpmelville.com/

University of Michigan, College of Engineering ( email )

Ann Arbor, MI
United States

HOME PAGE: http://isd.engin.umich.edu/graduate-degree-programs/design-science/

Lionel Robert

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information ( email )

4388 North Quad
105 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.si.umich.edu/people/lionel-robert

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