Negotiating Agency and Control: Theorizing Human-Machine Communication from a Structurational Perspective

Authors

Jennifer L. Gibbs, University of California, Santa BarbaraFollow
Gavin L. Kirkwood, University of California, Santa BarbaraFollow
Chengyu Fang, University of California, Santa BarbaraFollow
J. Nan Wilkenfeld, University of California, Santa BarbaraFollow

Abstract

Intelligent technologies have the potential to transform organizations and organizing processes. In particular, they are unique from prior organizational technologies in that they reposition technology as agent rather than a tool or object of use. Scholars studying human-machine communication (HMC) have begun to theorize the dual role played by human and machine agency, but they have focused primarily on the individual level. Drawing on Structuration Theory (Giddens, 1984), we propose a theoretical framework to explain agency in HMC as a process involving the negotiation of control between human and machine agents. This article contributes to HMC scholarship by offering a framework and research agenda to guide future theory-building and research on the use of intelligent technologies in organizational contexts.

DOI

10.30658/hmc.2.8

Author ORCID Identifier

Jennifer Gibbs 0000-0003-0101-3519

Gavin L. Kirkwood 0000-0002-5569-9782

Chengyu Fang 0000-0001-7024-0243

J. Nan Wilkenfeld 0000-0002-1591-1910

Recommended Citation

Gibbs, J. L., Kirkwood, G. L., Fang, C., & Wilkenfeld, J. N. (2021). Negotiating agency and control: Theorizing human-machine communication from a structurational perspective. Human-Machine Communication, 2, 153-171. https://doi.org/10.30658/hmc.2.8