Overview
Background
Dr Tapani Rinta-Kahila is a Senior 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 both the prestigious Stafford Beer Medal and the AIS Senior Scholar Best IS Publication Award in 2023. Moreover, his research achievements more generally have been recognised with the AIS Early Career Award, as well as awards for Early-Career Research Excellence from the UQ Business School and BEL Faculty. Further, his industry engagement with the software vendor SAP received the UQ Early-to-Mid-Career Researcher Industry Engagement Award and the UQ BEL Faculty Research Engagement and Impact Award.
Tapani serves as an Associate Editor for leading IS conferences (e.g. ICIS, ECIS, PACIS) as a Minitrack Chair for HICSS, and as a reviewer for the leading IS journals (MISQ, JAIS, EJIS, ISJ, JSIS, 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
2014
Conference Publication
Triggering intention to use to actual use - empirical evidence from self-service checkout (SCO) systems
Penttinen, Esko, Kahila, Tapani-Rinta, Ronkko, Mikko and Saarinen, Timo (2014). Triggering intention to use to actual use - empirical evidence from self-service checkout (SCO) systems. 47th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2014), Waikoloa, HI, United States, 06-09 January 2014. Washington, DC, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/hicss.2014.414
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Tapani Rinta-Kahila is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Synergy between Human Resource Skills and Artificial Intelligence
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Stan Karanasios
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Doctor Philosophy
Developing Data-Driven Organisations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Marta Indulska, Associate Professor Ida Asadi Someh
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Doctor Philosophy
Investigating Digital Sustainability Initiatives in Indonesian Aquaculture
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Christoph Breidbach
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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