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Communications of the Association for Information Systems

Author ORCID Identifier

Stéphanie Gauttier: 0000-0003-3285-9189

Alexandra Lugova: 0009-0002-2991-559X

Pierre Dal Zotto: 0000-0001-9552-6387

Abstract

Automation and robotics are key enablers of Industry 4.0 because they promise increased productivity through changes in work practices. At the same time, they raise ethical concerns affecting economic, social, political, and industrial domains. To examine how such concerns are anticipated by workers, we created visual representations of potential ethical issues using generative artificial intelligence and incorporated them into a visual Q-study conducted in four countries (Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States; n = 90) with participants working in automation-related sectors. Participants ranked scenarios according to how worrying they found them. Three composite views emerged. The first emphasizes controlling automation to prevent ecological and security risks. The second values robots but cautions against close human–robot integration. The third highlights concerns about changing work dynamics and inclusivity. Overall, the findings show that workers evaluate automation in terms of its anticipated consequences for work, society, and the environment. By identifying the ethical dimensions structuring these evaluations, this study provides empirical insight into workers’ anticipatory ethical perspectives and offers a conceptual basis for future frameworks showing how attitudes toward automation are shaped not only by traditional technology acceptance factors but also by anticipated ethical consequences for work and society.

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