What Are We Augmenting? A Multidisciplinary Analysis of AI-based Augmentation for the Future of Work

While augmentation is commonly presented as a desirable path in AI development and implementation, we have not yet found a shared definition for this concept. As the verb “to augment” needs to be followed by a target, we raise the question: What is augmented with AI? Building on a literature review of the augmentation narratives in five different disciplines - i.e., labor economics, computer science, philosophy, management, and information systems - we identify eleven distinct augmentation perspectives taken by scholars of those fields, including the underlying theoretical concepts that indicate what is intended to be augmented. This paper contributes to theory by “going beyond augmentation as collaboration” and helping us to move “towards collaboration for augmentation”.