PhD student, Victoria University of Wellintgon
Talitakuum Ekandjo is a PhD student in information systems at the Wellington School of Business and Government at Victoria University of Wellington. She holds undergraduate degrees in information systems administration, business administration and a master’s degree in information systems. Talitakuum’s research interests include information privacy, adoption and use of data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies in organisations, and the future of work. Her PhD research is focused on the use and effects of enterprise-based intelligent personal assistants on work practices. Her academic work has been accepted for presentation and publication by the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS 2020) and the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2021). She has also previously presented at the ACM African Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (AFRICHI 2018). Talitakuum is also a recipient of several professional and academic awards. She is a recipient of the 2017 Johnny Smoes Award for Excellence in Information Systems: Strategy & Governance and was part of the 2017 Melbourne School of Engineering Dean’s Honours List during her time at The University of Melbourne. She is currently a Victoria Doctoral Scholarship recipient. Apart from her PhD studies, Talitakuum volunteers as an Executive Member of the Postgraduate Student Association at Victoria University of Wellington and is a member of the Internet Society Namibia Chapter and Toastmasters NZ.
Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) provide organisations and employees with opportunities to address challenges employees face in their daily working lives, such as managing email and meeting overload, juggling multiple roles, and dealing with disruptions and interruptions. AI technologies offer significant benefits to employees and organisations, including automating routine and mundane work, providing personalised employee experiences and improving decision-making. Academic and industry commentators have suggested that AI technologies and employees can work together as partners to help employees be more productive and build healthy work habits, thereby improving productivity, wellbeing and work-life balance. However, AI technologies can be troublesome teammates and empirical studies have pointed out the dark side of AI, including providing conflicting instructions and advice, silencing employee voices, increasing concerns over controlling employees with algorithms, blurring managerial roles and boundaries and creating privacy and ethical issues. This presentation will explore and discuss the new developments in AI-based enterprise productivity tools, with a special focus on the benefits and drawbacks of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs). IPAs are intelligent tools that help employees and managers manage their daily work activities by automating routine work and/or providing actionable insights into work habits and collaboration patterns. IPAs are rapidly evolving in the workplace, and their growth has been aggressively projected, with half of the employees expected to use them by 2025. Therefore, this presentation provides an opportunity for organisations to learn more about these emerging technologies and their implications for employees and managers.