Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to enhance public services by automating tasks and improving efficiency. However, visions of future AI use often overlook the early stages of its integration. We investigate how public organizations prepare for AI in service innovation shedding light on pre-implementation phase before implementation and use. We ask: How do public organizations prepare for AI integration in service innovation? Information Systems (IS) research recognizes the phases preceding implementation as crucial for shaping technology use. Given AI’s evolving nature—constantly in the making, shaping, and being shaped by socio-organizational processes—questions arise about how organizations navigate uncertain technological futures. Drawing on a two-year qualitative case study examining the planning for AI in Norwegian public services, we find that public organizations engage in sense-making during the initial stages, gradually forming organizing visions that shape how future AI technologies and practices might look. These visions emerge through activities for exploring integration opportunities and possible use cases for AI; through data work for finding the right data and ensuring data quality; addressing legal constraints; and facilitating data sharing. We contribute to IS by further theorizing the crucial early phases in which visions about AI are formed, which can impact the broader integration of AI in public services.

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