Ai and robots in working life
Special issue Editors: Marcus Persson, associate professor of sociology. Linköping University (Marcus.persson@liu.se), Kristina Palm, professor of working life science. Karlstad University (Kristina.palm@kau.se), Eva Lindell, associate professor of business administration. Mälardalen University (Eva.lindell@mdu.se)
This special issue has deadline for extended abstract (1000 words): October 31st 2024. Deadline for full paper: March 31st 2025. The special issue is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2026. Abstracts and manuscripts should be submitted to Journal manager Bo Carstens, bo.carstens@gmail.com. Please also contact Journal manager Bo Carstens, bo.carstens@gmail.com, if you have any questions regarding submissions.Ai technology such as advanced robots are not only used in factories but are rapidly becoming an integral part of most sectors of work. For instance, self-driving cars in transportation (Royakkers & van Est, 2016); automate decision-making in administrative work (Andersson, 2023); care robots in health care (Wright, 2023); and automated teaching in education (Selwyn, 2019). The robotization of society goes hand in hand with digital automation, which is spurred by the last decades exponential growth of internet resources and artificial intelligence.
While much have been written about social, embodied, and ethical aspects of human-robot-interaction (e.g. Nyholm, 2020), there is a general lack of research regarding the impact of ai and robots on working life. In fact, robotization and automation is expected to reduce certain jobs in the coming years. The sectors most likely to adopt robotics are electronics, energy tech and utilities and consumer goods, according to a 2023 report from the World Economic Forum. While certain jobs will be made obsolete, new jobs will be created in the wake of robotization, and new forms of collaborations between humans and machines will emerge. Thus, the topic of ai and robots in working life is pertinent, timely and in need of further research.
In this special issue, we call for papers to discuss the role of different technologies, such as generative ai, LLM (large language models), and robotics, as mediators, agents, and tools in working life. Despite the extensive introduction of digital technologies in working life there is limited research on what happens when ai and robots are introduced (Mynak 2020; Mynak 2022). The development of ai and robots is moving at a furious pace and more and more employers are introducing this type of technology to streamline work, but without any further thoughts on the overall consequences (Mynak, 2020). Further, the development of ai and robot is not only causing changes in organizations and physical work environment in the present, but creates dystopian as well as utopian imaginaries of the future of work which has the potential to change our ontological understandings of what work is and what working beings are (Czarniawska & Joerges, 2020). For these reasons we see a need for researchers to discuss robotisation and ai-fication in working life and advance the state of knowledge.
We define ai and robots as autonomous systems that can carry out a complex series of actions automatically. This broad definition includes both immaterial bots and material robots. By immaterial bots we refer to software programs bound to digital platforms, such as chatbots, ai-driven tools for planning and automated decision-making, or for creative and artistic work. Material robots can be designed in various ways, such as (non-)humanoids, animals, vehicles, and various machines. Robotic devices may be with or without an integrated ai-engine.
We invite manuscripts that apply a robotic and/or AI theme in various contexts of working life where humans are interacting with different kinds of ai bots and robots.
Depending on context, human interaction with ai and/or robots will generate different topics and questions of interest. The special issue is open for abstract submission, and we welcome contributions on different topics related to the overall theme. For instance, but not exclusive implications for:
- work environment
- automation and standardization
- identity and competency
- group dynamics, power, and hierarchies
- leadership and responsibility
- sociotechnical relations and agency
- emotions and emotional labor
- companionship and intimacy
- embodied and unbodied experience
- technofeminism and gendered relations
- disability in working life
References
Andersson, C. (2023) Digital automation of administrative work. How automation reconfigures administrative work. Mälardalens University Press.
Czarniawska, B., & Joerges, B. (2020). Robotization of work?: Answers from popular culture, media and social sciences. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Mynak (2022) Artificiell intelligens, robotisering och arbetsmiljön. Myndigheten för arbetsmiljökunskap, 2022:1
Mynak (2020) Work environment of the future – trends, digitalization and employment forms. Myndigheten för arbetsmiljökunskap.
Nyholm, S. (2020) Humans and Robots. Ethics, Agency, and Anthropomorphism. Rowman & Littlefield.
Royakkers, L., & van Est, R. (2016) Just ordinary robots. Automation from love to war. Taylor & Francis.
Selwyn, N. (2019) Should robots replace teachers? AI and the future of education. Polity Press.
The World Economic Forum (2023) Future of jobs report. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of- jobs-report-2023/
Wright, J. (2023) Robots won't save Japan. An ethnography of eldercare automation. Cornell University Press.
