Ai technology and advanced robots are rapidly becoming an integral part of most sectors of work. For instance, self-driving cars in transportation; automate decision-making in administrative work; personalization in e-commerce, care robots in health care; and automated teaching in education. Despite the extensive introduction of digital technologies in work there is limited research about the social implications for the working life of different occupational groups when ai and robots are introduced. 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. For these reasons we see a need for Nordic researchers to come together in a research group and discuss robotization and ai-fication in working life and advance the state of knowledge.
Focus on research of robotization and ai-fication in working life
The Nordic research group “Robots and AI in Working life” (RAiW) aims to strengthen and develop sociological research within the areas of robotization and ai-fication in working life and advance the state of knowledge. The research group are open for scholars who are working on various topics related to the overall theme of digitalization and robotization of working life. For instance, we discuss social issues and implications related to automation and standardization, work environment, organizational culture, work identity and competency, work relations, power and hierarchies, institutional logics, as well as emotions and changed intimacies. We welcome a broad range of theoretical perspectives, as well as different methodological expertise, which can initiate discussions on both micro-, meso- and macro level analysis.
A need of a deeper knowledge of the transition of work life in the Nordics
We recognize how organized interests/labor market parties in the Nordic countries have traditionally embraced productivity-enhancing technology and restructuring. Employers and unions in these countries have a long tradition of recognizing that a declining need for labor in production due to automation must be met by upskilling and reallocation of labor to other functions or sectors. In other words, they have a tradition of stressing a need for continuous upgrading of work. In today’s AI and digital automation, we do however encounter research stressing that this is a development that may hit not just routine work hard, but also tasks demanding cognitive competences. This raise demands for Nordic research to investigate and seek out empirical material allowing us to gain deeper knowledge of the transition of work life in the Nordics.
In addition to being a platform for Nordic sociologists to discuss contemporary issues about social effects of robotization and AI-fication, the research group aims to generate new collaborations, engage in new projects and research applications, and involve researchers from different disciplines.
