Combating decision fatigue and optimising decision-making in Information Technology (IT): The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing cognitive outcomes for IT professionals

Decision fatigue has become a prevalent risk that influences information technology (IT) professionals in New Zealand, affecting the quality of decisions, productivity and overall well-being. This research explored how IT professionals in New Zealand experience decision fatigue and investigated how artificial intelligence (AI) could be strategically utilised to mitigate it. Decision fatigue has been acknowledged in various fields, such as healthcare and psychology, but how it affects IT professionals is under-explored, particularly in IT in New Zealand. As a supportive tool, AI and its usage are explored in different contexts to improve productivity and efficiency, but the specific AI usage to prevent decision fatigue of IT professionals remains unexplored in New Zealand. This research identified this as a gap and an opportunity to explore more in this context. This research aims to explore how IT professionals in New Zealand currently experience decision fatigue and how this can be mitigated using AI. Specifically, it explores; a) the primary challenges in decision-making that lead to decision fatigue among IT professionals, b) the potential benefits and challenges associated with the adoption of AI tools in decision-making processes, and c) how the adoption of AI tools influences their cognitive workload and contributes to the mitigation of decision fatigue.

The research adopted a qualitative interpretivist research design which included conducting semi-structured interviews with fifteen IT professionals who worked in different roles throughout New Zealand. The research used thematic analysis to identify major patterns and insights. In alignment with the research questions, the research first identifies the significant challenges IT professionals face which contribute to decision fatigue. These include cognitive overload, the pressure of multitasking in a time-constrained environment and high-stakes decision-making pressure. Secondly, the research identifies how IT professionals utilise AI in decision-making, such as in automating routine tasks and information processing to support decisions. It further looks at the key limitations of this, such as trust, security and lack of contextual understanding. Finally, strategic approaches were identified, such as automating time-consuming and routine tasks, delegating repetitive decisions, and reducing complexity by processing large amounts of data.

The research provides new perspectives about AI assistance for cognitive well-being through its reduction of decision fatigue in IT settings. The research presents AI-assisted task delegation as a method to maintain mental capacity for complex decision-making tasks. The research emphasizes the need for trust and contextual understanding and human-AI collaboration. The research results guide both decision fatigue theory development and practical AI implementation strategies that support sustainable IT professional workflows with ethical considerations.

Keywords

artificial intelligence, decision fatigue, Information Technology professionals, information processing, New Zealand

License

This thesis is publicly available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/