Metacognition and agency in AI assisted work

The ongoing technological transformation is reshaping working life. Research often focuses on what technology can do. We address a question that has received less attention: how this transformation affects human cognition and how people navigate it.

Although some people’s work performance has improved through the use of AI, work efficiency overall has not increased. AI can be a working partner, but at its worst it can also consume attention and time. What happens to employees’ agency and wellbeing?

As AI reshapes job roles and interaction, it also affects relationships between employees. But does it make working life more accessible to a diverse workforce, or does it reinforce discriminatory practices?

AI-assisted work ranges from the occasional use of a language model to multi-agent systems. How do different workflows affect the strain employees experience?

What does this theme investigate

We study metacognition — an individual’s awareness of their own thinking — as a factor that may explain differences. Metacognitive skills include the ability to identify a problem, evaluate one’s own thinking and structure the problem-solving process.

We apply this perspective to several questions:

• How can metacognition be supported in working life?
• How can employees’ agency be supported amid technological transformation?
• The role of values-based decision-making in AI adoption
• The effects of AI on interaction and inclusion in work communities — for example, its effects on neurodivergent employees

Tutkimustiimi:

• Polaris Koi (University of Turku)
• Sanna Lehtinen (Aalto University)
• Jussi Jylkkä (University of Turku)
• Onerva Kiianlinna (Aalto University)