Theory Audit — Field Note 04: Preservation Drift

Phase 2 — Theory Audit

Stage 2.1 — Working Observation

Organisations increasingly describe AI initiatives as preserving organisational memory, while some initiatives appear to extend beyond documenting knowledge toward modelling aspects of employees' judgement, decision-making patterns, heuristics or professional expertise.

Whether this represents a qualitatively different organisational phenomenon remains unknown.

Stage 2.2 — Existing Explanations

Six disciplinary folders are reviewed: Knowledge Management, Behavioural Psychology, Technology Adoption, Labour, Governance, and Organisation Theory. A seventh folder examines two recent publications — Loock (2025) on extracted cognition and Lomet (2025) on cognitive extraction and preservation — that use terminology directly relevant to the working observation.

The comparative assessment positions Preservation Drift against Loock and Lomet on eight dimensions: primary unit of analysis, central concern, what is transferred, main technological effect, role of employment boundary, ownership and consent, psychological ownership, and post-employment persistence.