Overview
Background
Dr Tapani Rinta-Kahila is a Lecturer of Business Information Systems and an ARC DECRA Fellow at The University of Queensland Business School. He holds a doctoral degree from Aalto University School of Business, where he wrote an award-winning dissertation on the decommissioning of organisational information systems.
His research focuses on issues around the implementation and management of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in organisations, unintended consequences of technology use, and replacement of organisational information systems (IS). In particular, Tapani strives to understand how contemporary technologies such as AI affect the way in which people learn, work and organise, and how the negative consequences of such technologies can be managed.
Tapani's research has appeared in leading IS journals, including MIS Quarterly, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Information & Management, and MIS Quarterly Executive, as well as in leading IS conferences, such as ICIS, ECIS, HICSS, and ACIS. His publication "Algorithmic decision-making and system destructiveness: A case of automatic debt recovery" in European Journal of Information Systems was awarded the prestigious Stafford Beer Medal and AIS Senior Scholar Best IS Publication Award in 2023. Moreover, his research achievements more generally have been recognised with awards for Early-Career Research Excellence from the UQ Business School and BEL Faculty, and his industry engagement received the UQ Early-to-Mid-Career Researcher Industry Engagement Award and UQ BEL Faculty Research Engagement and Impact Award.
Tapani serves as an Associate Editor for leading IS conferences ICIS and ECIS, as a Minitrack Chair for HICSS, and as a regular reviewer for the leading IS journals (JAIS, EJIS, ISJ, JIT, I&M, BISE, MISQ Executive, etc) and conferences (ICIS, ECIS, HICSS, PACIS, ACIS, WI etc).
Availability
- Dr Tapani Rinta-Kahila is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy of Science (Advanced), Aalto University
Research interests
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Automation and Erosion of Expertise
Technologies like AI are becoming increasingly sophisticated, allowing the automation of many types of activities that were previously conducted exclusively by humans. What happens to our skills and abilities when we offload an increasing share of our cognitive functions to technology? What are the individual and organisational implications of becoming more and more dependent on AI? Is the erosion of skills inevitable, or can we find ways to consciously manage it?
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Organisational AI implementation: challenges and opportunities
AI technology promises significant benefits to organisations but reaping those benefits is far from simple. How can organisations implement AI responsibly while making most of the technology's benefits? How can they deal with issues related to accountability in algorithmic decision-making, the inscrutability of complex AI models, and potential biases stemming from data and algorithms?
Research impacts
Tapani's research has informed the professional practice of several industry partners. For instance, his collaboration with the SAP Institute for Digital Government has resulted in four thought-leadership reports co-authored with SAP practitioners. These reports outline approaches to responsible AI implementation in the public sector, and they have been distributed widely in the global SAP organisation and translated into several languages. Further, Tapani has conducted societally important research on the Australian welfare debt recollection scandal known as Robodebt, and his published articles on the topic have garnered attention from the media (ABC Radio, SBS News, Reuters). Through his work, Tapani strives to contribute to creating a more informed and responsible culture around the use and implementation of cutting-edge AI technologies.
Featured articles:
What happens when we outsource boring but important work to AI?
How to avoid algorithmic decision-making mistakes: lessons from the Robodebt debacle
Works
Search Professor Tapani Rinta-Kahila’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Conference Publication
Redesigning Work for Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector
Bidar, Reihaneh, Someh, Ida, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Williams, Katie, Indulska, Marta and Ryan, Ian (2024). Redesigning Work for Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector. 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2024), Chicago, IL United States, 9-13 August 2024. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/amproc.2024.15848abstract
2024
Journal Article
Managing unintended consequences of algorithmic decision-making: the case of Robodebt
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Someh, Ida, Gillespie, Nicole, Indulska, Marta and Gregor, Shirley (2024). Managing unintended consequences of algorithmic decision-making: the case of Robodebt. Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 14 (1), 165-171. doi: 10.1177/20438869231165538
2023
Conference Publication
An AI-enabled community safety service: stakeholder benefits and vulnerabilities
Pool, Javad, Smith, Natalie, Dodds, Hunter, Lockey, Steven, Curtis, Caitlin, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani and Gillespie, Nicole (2023). An AI-enabled community safety service: stakeholder benefits and vulnerabilities. Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS), Wellington, New Zealand, 5 - 8 December 2023. Atlanta, GA, United States: Association for Information Systems.
2023
Conference Publication
Building and sustaining communities in online labour platforms
Suvivuo, Sampsa, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani and Tuunainen, Virpi (2023). Building and sustaining communities in online labour platforms. European Conference on Information Systems, Kristiansand, Norway, 13-16 June 2023. New York, NY United States: Elsevier.
2023
Journal Article
Unethical but not illegal! A critical look at two-sided disinformation platforms: justifications, critique, and a way forward
Soliman, Wael and Rinta-Kahila, Tapani (2023). Unethical but not illegal! A critical look at two-sided disinformation platforms: justifications, critique, and a way forward. Journal of Information Technology, 39 (3), 441-476. doi: 10.1177/02683962231181145
2023
Journal Article
Getting trapped in technical debt: sociotechnical analysis of a legacy system’s replacement
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Penttinen, Esko and Lyytinen, Kalle (2023). Getting trapped in technical debt: sociotechnical analysis of a legacy system’s replacement. MIS Quarterly, 47 (1), 1-32. doi: 10.25300/misq/2022/16711
2023
Conference Publication
A domino effect: interdependencies among different types of technical debt
Mäki, Netta, Penttinen, Esko and Rinta-Kahila, Tapani (2023). A domino effect: interdependencies among different types of technical debt. 56th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, HI, United States, 3-6 January 2023. Washington, DC, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.24251/hicss.2023.722
2023
Other Outputs
Redesigning work with Artificial Intelligence
Bidar, Reihaneh, Someh, Ida, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Williams, Katie, Indulska, Marta and Ryan, Ian (2023). Redesigning work with Artificial Intelligence. SAP Thought Leadership Paper: Public Sector Brisbane, Australia; Canberra, Australia: The University of Queensland; SAP Institute for Digital Government. doi: 10.14264/6428cca
2023
Conference Publication
Robotic process automation from the design-capital perspective - effects on technical debt and digital options
Ruha, Lauri, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani and Penttinen, Esko (2023). Robotic process automation from the design-capital perspective - effects on technical debt and digital options. 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, HI, United States, 3-6 January 2023. Washington, DC, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.24251/hicss.2023.664
2023
Conference Publication
Building artifificial intelligence capability in the public sector
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Someh, Ida, Indulska, Marta and Ryan, Ian (2023). Building artifificial intelligence capability in the public sector. Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Wellington, New Zealand, 5-8 December 2023. Atlanta, GA, United States: Association for Information Systems.
2023
Journal Article
The vicious circles of skill erosion: a case study of cognitive automation
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Penttinen, Esko, Salovaara, Antti, Soliman, Wael and Ruissalo, Joona (2023). The vicious circles of skill erosion: a case study of cognitive automation. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 24 (5) 2, 1378-1412. doi: 10.17705/1jais.00829
2022
Other Outputs
Building Artificial Intelligence capability in the public sector
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Someh, Ida, Indulska, Marta and Ryan, I. (2022). Building Artificial Intelligence capability in the public sector. SAP Thought Leadership Paper: Public Sector Brisbane, Australia; Canberra, Australia: The University of Queensland; SAP Institute for Digital Government. doi: 10.14264/91738b9
2021
Journal Article
Algorithmic decision-making and system destructiveness: a case of automatic debt recovery
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Someh, Ida, Gillespie, Nicole, Indulska, Marta and Gregor, Shirley (2021). Algorithmic decision-making and system destructiveness: a case of automatic debt recovery. European Journal of Information Systems, 31 (3), 1-26. doi: 10.1080/0960085X.2021.1960905
2021
Journal Article
Customer reactions to self-checkout discontinuance
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Penttinen, Esko, Kumar, Ashish and Janakiraman, Ramkumar (2021). Customer reactions to self-checkout discontinuance. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 61 102498, 102498. doi: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102498
2021
Journal Article
Organizational transformation with intelligent automation: Case Nokia Software
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Penttinen, Esko and Lyytinen, Kalle (2021). Organizational transformation with intelligent automation: Case Nokia Software. Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 11 (2), 204388692095487-109. doi: 10.1177/2043886920954874
2021
Conference Publication
Pressuring trading partners to adopt a business-to-business connectivity platform - stick or carrot?
Esko Penttinen, Tapani Rinta-Kahila and Jukka Sihvonen (2021). Pressuring trading partners to adopt a business-to-business connectivity platform - stick or carrot?. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, HI, United States, 4-8 January 2021. Honolulu, HI, United States: University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
2021
Journal Article
Sociotechnical envelopment of artificial intelligence: an approach to organizational deployment of inscrutable artificial intelligence systems
Asatiani, Aleksandre, Malo, Pekka, Nagbol, Per Radberg, Penttinen, Esko, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani and Salovaara, Antti (2021). Sociotechnical envelopment of artificial intelligence: an approach to organizational deployment of inscrutable artificial intelligence systems. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 22 (2), 325-352. doi: 10.17705/1jais.00664
2021
Journal Article
Four flavours of customers: a dual-system perspective on self-service technology use
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani and Penttinen, Esko (2021). Four flavours of customers: a dual-system perspective on self-service technology use. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25, 1-27. doi: 10.3127/ajis.v25i0.2671
2021
Other Outputs
Building explainability into public sector artificial intelligence: helping stakeholders understand the thinking behind AI decision-making
Rinta-Kahila, Tapani, Someh, Ida, Indulska, Marta, Ryan, Ian and van Leent, Ryan (2021). Building explainability into public sector artificial intelligence: helping stakeholders understand the thinking behind AI decision-making. SAP Thought Leadership Paper: Public Sector Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland; SAP SE.
2020
Journal Article
Challenges of explaining the behavior of black-box AI systems
Asatiani, Aleksandre, Malo, Pekka, Nagb, Per Radberg, Penttinen, Esko, Rinta-Kahila, Tapani and Salovaara, Antti (2020). Challenges of explaining the behavior of black-box AI systems. MIS Quarterly Executive, 19 (4), 259-278. doi: 10.17705/2msqe.00037
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Tapani Rinta-Kahila is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
HOW AI SERVICE AGENTS INFLUENCE ENGAGEMENT IN LIVE STREAMING: PERSPECTIVE OF IT AFFORDANCE & ANTHROPOMORPHISM
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Christoph Breidbach
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Doctor Philosophy
Developing Data-Driven Organisations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Marta Indulska, Dr Ida Asadi Someh
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Tapani Rinta-Kahila directly for media enquiries about:
- artificial intelligence
- case study
- information systems
- IT system replacement
- qualitative research
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