AI street-level bureaucracy

Deployment and preferences for public sector employment

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22421119
AutoresJianxiang Tan (0009-0008-2900-3826, City University of Hong Kong), Yanto Chandra (0000-0003-1083-5813, City University of Hong Kong, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Páginas1-20
Fecha de publicación2026-06-10
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Public Management Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1096-7494 • E-ISSN: 1559-3169
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10967494.2026.2674551
OpenAlexW7164177268
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas78

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly employed in street-level bureaucratic encounters, giving rise to AI street-level bureaucrats (AI SLBs). Yet how specific attributes of working alongside AI SLBs shape preferences for public sector employment remains poorly understood. We conducted a discrete choice experiment (n = 1,320 observations) and follow-up interviews (n = 40) with final-year master’s students in Hong Kong to examine tradeoffs among five AI SLB deployment attributes: AI SLBs’ deployment intensity, performance, decision-making autonomy, workplace AI training, and AI skills development subsidies. Results reveal that participants prefer public sector jobs featuring lower AI SLBs’ decision-making autonomy, AI performance equivalent to humans, provision of AI-related training, and higher subsidies for AI skills development. Deployment intensity was not a significant predictor. This study advances the literature on public sector employment preferences in the AI era by identifying which attributes of human-AI collaboration matter most to prospective workers. Given that the findings from this strategically selected group may not generalize to all public sector seekers, we advocate for further research examining a broader range of stakeholders involved in public sector employment.

Private sector · Public sector · Software deployment · Voluntary sector · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Smart Cities and Technologies