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    Living Above The Algorithm: The Intersection of AI, Normalisation and Ethics Research


    McLoughlin, Shane (2026) Living Above The Algorithm: The Intersection of AI, Normalisation and Ethics Research. In: PACIS: Pacis Asia Conference on Information Systems, 04/07/2026 - 08/07/2026, Jakarta, Indonesia. (Unpublished)

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    Abstract

    AI is becoming embedded in organisational and social life, yet MIS scholarship has only begun to explain the ethical consequences of how AI becomes normalised and how AI, in turn, can (de)normalise beliefs, practices, artifacts and arrangements. This paper helps address that gap by reviewing emerging cross-disciplinary literature positioned directly at this intersection to formulate a formative framework of AI's Ethical Normalisation; Epistemic Regimes, Power Relations, Behavioural Design, and Meaning & Identity. Importantly, we distinguish between Normalisation of AI and Normalisation using AI and draw on scholarly work to illuminate how AI’s ethical effects arise not only at adoption, but through routinisation, stabilisation, and moral invisibility as AI becomes embedded in practice. The paper's contribution is to advance responsible AI research in MIS through a formative analytical framework of AI's Ethical Normalisation, along with overarching mechanisms of intervention, and research directions for studying AI's ethical normalisation as socio-technical governance challenge.
    Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
    Additional Information: Preprint. This paper has been accepted for presentation at the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2026. The final proceedings version will be available in the AIS eLibrary. 1
    Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; AI; Gen-AI; normalisation; normalising; normalise; ethics; ethical; moral;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Business
    Item ID: 21643
    Depositing User: Shane Mcloughlin
    Date Deposited: 26 May 2026 12:32
    Refereed: Yes
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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