Beyond the AI Myth: Reconceptualizing Digital Technologies as Augmented Knowledge Infrastructures for Purpose-Driven Collective Action

Christophe Deshayes ()
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Christophe Deshayes: École des Mines de Paris

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Abstract: Contemporary management discourse is deeply polarized over what is commonly called "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), oscillating between the myth of an autonomous, anthropomorphic algorithmic agent and the reductive view of little more than an enhanced search engine. This theoretical position paper moves beyond that dichotomy through an epistemological reframing. We argue that the historically inherited label "Artificial Intelligence" is a semantic misnomer that steers managerial action toward misguided substitution strategies. Drawing on computational epistemology and organization theory, we propose replacing this paradigm with that of Augmented Knowledge. We conceptualize Augmented Knowledge as a dual cognitive infrastructure operating along a continuum between two pillars: a Vertical Pillar, which compresses and streamlines access to formalized human knowledge, and a Horizontal Pillar, which explores latent, non-formalized knowledge by processing raw digital traces and systematically searching combinatorial spaces. The paper examines the model's internal consistency, coherence, and originality, and considers its implications for human resource management, particularly in large organizations. Ultimately, we argue that such an infrastructure cannot automate decision-making. Rather, it calls for a renewed understanding of management as the organization of purpose-driven collective action: mobilizing complementary human collectives that can interpret, challenge, and steer Augmented Knowledge while retaining responsibility for goals, values, and action.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence AI adoption; Technology governance; Dynamic capabilities; augmented knowledge; Gouvernance Technologique (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10
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