The introduction of robotic process automation (RPA) into the public sector has changed civil servants’ daily life and practices. One of these central practices in the public sector is discretion. The shift to a digital mode of discretion calls for an understanding of the new situation. This article presents an empirical case where automated decision making driven by RPA has been implemented in social services in Sweden. It focuses on the aspirational values and effects of the RPA in social services. Context, task, and activities are captured by a detailed analysis of humans and technology. This research finds that digitalization in social services has a positive effect on civil servants’ discretionary practices mainly in terms of their ethical, democratic, and professional values. The long-term effects and the influence on fair and uniform decision making also merit future research. In addition, the article finds that a human–technology hybrid actor redefines social assistance practices. Simplifications are needed to unpack the automated decision-making process because of the technological and theoretical complexities.

将机器人过程自动化（RPA）引入公共部门已经改变了公务员的日常生活和实践。在公共部门中，这些中心做法之一就是谨慎性。转向数字自由裁量权模式需要了解新情况。本文介绍了一个经验案例，其中在瑞典的社会服务中实施了由RPA驱动的自动决策。它着重于RPA在社会服务中的理想价值和影响。通过对人员和技术的详细分析来捕获上下文，任务和活动。这项研究发现，社会服务中的数字化主要在公务员的道德，民主和专业价值观方面，对公务员的酌处权产生积极影响。长期影响以及对公平统一决策的影响也值得今后研究。此外，本文还发现，人与技术的混合参与者重新定义了社会援助实践。由于技术和理论上的复杂性，需要简化以简化自动决策过程的包装。