Topic: Demystifying AI for the Workforce: The Role of Explainable AI in Worker Acceptance and Management Relations
Speaker: LU Ying Candy, Macquarie University
Time: December 19, 2025, 14:30
Venue: EMS 210
Abstract:
In the digital era, organisations are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise their operations and decision-making. However, the opaqueness of AI processes raises concerns over trust, fairness, and autonomy, especially in the gig economy, where AI-driven management is ubiquitous. This study investigates how explainable AI (xAI), through comparative use of counterfactual versus factual and local versus global explanations, shapes gig workers’ acceptance of AI-driven decisions and management relations, drawing on cognitive load theory. Using experimental data from 1,107 gig workers, we found that both counterfactual (relative to factual) and local (relative to global) explanations increase the acceptance of AI decisions. However, the combination of local and counterfactual explanations can overwhelm workers, thereby reducing these positive effects. Further, worker acceptance mediated the relationship between xAI explanations and management relations. A follow-up study using a simplified scenario and additional procedural controls confirmed the robustness of these effects. Our findings underscore the value of carefully tailored xAI in fostering equitable, transparent, and constructive organisational practices in digitally mediated work environments.
Speaker Profile:
LU Ying Candy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management at the Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University (ranked 138th in the QS World University Rankings). She serves as the Program Director for the Master of International Business and the Master of Commerce (International Business specialisation), and is the Asia-Pacific Director of the Health at Work Research Centre at Macquarie University. Her research areas encompass sustainable human resource management, algorithmic human resource management, multinational corporation management, and AI-assisted decision-making. Her work has been published in several internationally renowned academic journals, including Human Resource Management, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Human Resource Management Journal, Journal of Business Research, and Safety Science. She has received multiple international academic awards, such as Best Paper Awards from the Academy of Management and the British Academy of Management, as well as the Macquarie University Research Excellence Award in 2023. Currently, she serves as an Associate Editor for The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Research, Stress & Health, and Chinese Management Studies; sits on the editorial boards of Human Resource Management, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, and Australian Journal of Management; and acts as a Guest Editor for top-tier international journals including Journal of Business Ethics.
