Exploring AI Adoption for Manufacturing SMEs in Industry 5.0

This article explores AI adoption in manufacturing SMEs in Industry 5.0. The authors present an interdisciplinary approach to AI adoption grounded in literature from information systems, organization research, and industry research. The aim of the article is to identify characteristics of AI adoption in manufacturing SMEs in Industry 5.0. In information systems, researchers claim that the rise of AI technologies is prompting growing calls to rethink the theoretical foundations of adoption in IS research. The research approach was inspired by interpretive field studies and was conducted within the ongoing project, HUMAI. The article's contribution is a set of characteristics of AI adoption in manufacturing SMEs in Industry 5.0. Three characteristics were identified: 1) The AI adoption should support a manufacturing SME's sustainability work, 2) A Socio-technical and human-centric perspective should be applied throughout the AI adoption process, and 3) Competence development and learning should be addressed throughout the AI adoption process.