Symposium: Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Managing Purpose

According to the Italian philosopher Umberto Galimberti (2016), man still tends to consider technology (Τέχνη) as a neutral tool at his disposal, while it has become the environment that surrounds and defines us, following rules of rationality based exclusively on functionality and efficiency, often subordinating human needs to those of the technical apparatus. However, the Τέχνη does not tend towards a purpose, it simply functions. Therefore, it needs the subjective human input, which may be able to direct the purpose to be pursued. For this reason, the relationship between artificial intelligence as a seemingly "neutral" technology and business purposes is already controversial. AI is rapidly changing the business landscape, not only by automating and optimizing processes, but also by shaping the cultural and strategic dynamics of organizations. In particular, we want to explore the link between AI and business purposes, and how the seemingly neutral technology of AI already implies a well-defined cultural orientation. As mentioned above, AI is often perceived as an impartial and purely functional technology, focused exclusively on efficiency and productivity. However, this perception ignores the fact that AI is inextricably linked to the values, priorities, and perspectives of its creators and users. Decisions about algorithm design, data collection and interpretation, and the integration of AI into business processes reflect specific cultural and strategic choices. These choices directly influence the goals and ethics of organizations and determine not only how they operate, but also how they are perceived by their stakeholders. For example, the selection of training data for AI algorithms is a process that can introduce cultural, ethnic, and gender biases. An AI algorithm designed for hiring could perpetuate existing biases if the historical data used to train it may reflect gender or racial disparities. Similarly, the use of AI for predictive analytics in sales or marketing may influence business strategies, favoring more aggressive and targeted approaches that may not be consistent with ethical values of transparency and respect for privacy. The adoption of AI is therefore never a neutral act. Every technological decision has cultural and value implications that help define the company's role in society. We therefore seek to understand how to rethink the purpose and social role of companies in light of the significant impact of new technologies in shaping them.