Generative AI and the Changing Epistemic Character of Knowledge in the Consulting Sector

Abstract

Knowledge work performed in the consulting sector has been significantly affected by the spread of new epistemic technologies we are witnessing in contemporary organizations. With the emergence of conversational AI, it is especially relevant to explore the changing epistemological landscape of knowledge production in consulting companies. Applying a critical-constructivist approach and based on twenty-nine qualitative interviews conducted with management consultants, the paper investigates how the everyday use of generative AI shapes the meaning consultants ascribe to knowledge produced by human and non-human agents. Results have shown that generative AI boosts the reification of knowledge in the consulting sector by (1) changing the codification process according to instrumental, machine-led interests, (2) intervening in the ‘knowledge aggregation’ process previously performed by consultants, and (3) anthropomorphising generative AI. The study also revealed new forms of knowings as a response to the threats perceived by consultants related to the growing epistemic agency of AI.

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