Introduction: Why AI Disrupts More Than Just Technology
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often framed as a technological revolution—but its most profound impacts are social. Nowhere is this clearer than in healthcare, where AI is rapidly reshaping professional roles, responsibilities, and boundaries. My work in the sociology of the professions has given me a unique lens on this transformation. Over nearly three decades, I’ve studied how professional identity evolves, how knowledge is protected or shared, and how societal forces shape the way we work. Now, as AI challenges these traditional dynamics, I find myself drawing on this foundation to help healthcare professionals make sense of what lies ahead.
The Sociology of the Professions: A Primer
Sociologists of the professions study how occupations define their expertise, claim authority, and establish their role in society. Concepts like professional closure, task-shifting, and knowledge boundaries are central to this work. Historically, professional identity was closely tied to qualifications and institutional affiliations. Doctors, for instance, were gatekeepers to medical knowledge; nurses, allied health professionals, and assistants occupied defined, subordinate roles.
AI disrupts this pattern by democratising knowledge and automating routine tasks. In doing so, it reconfigures professional hierarchies and redefines what it means to be an expert. As AI tools assist with diagnostics, care planning, and workflow management, healthcare professionals are confronting a new reality: expertise is no longer determined solely by qualifications but by the ability to collaborate with, and make decisions based on, AI-generated insights.
Algorithmic Closure: The New Frontier of Professional Boundaries
In a forthcoming publication, I introduce the concept of algorithmic closure to describe how AI influences the creation and reinforcement of professional boundaries. Traditional professional closure strategies involved standardised training, regulating qualifications, protecting titles, and establishing scope-of-practice rules. Today, algorithms influence who can access what knowledge and who gets to define standards of care. These systems don’t just reflect existing hierarchies; they create new ones, often privileging those who design and control the algorithms over those who use them.
Healthcare professionals must therefore learn to navigate a landscape where authority and expertise are co-produced with digital systems. This shift has implications for education, regulation, and practice—and it requires an understanding of both technological and sociological dynamics.
Bridging Theory and Practice: My AI Journey
The insights I gained through academic research are no longer confined to journal articles and classrooms. Recently, our team has applied these principles through The Allied Health Academy, where we support global communities of practice to navigate the changing landscape of healthcare with AI. Interactive journaling with ChatGPT, for instance, helps me identify patterns in professional identity formation. Workforce mapping tools, with opportunities for AI integration, provide real-time insights into service demand and practitioner distribution.
This practical application has revealed an essential truth: AI amplifies both the strengths and the vulnerabilities of professional structures. It can empower professionals by streamlining administrative tasks and enhancing decision-making. But it also risks eroding autonomy when systems are designed without practitioner input.
Looking Ahead: The Role of Sociological Insight in an AI World
As healthcare grapples with AI integration, the sociology of the professions offers essential guidance. We need frameworks that go beyond technical competence to address questions of identity, autonomy, and trust. How do we train clinicians to work effectively with AI? How do we ensure that algorithmic decisions remain transparent and equitable? And how do we adapt professional boundaries to meet changing population needs without eroding the integrity of care?
AI is more than a tool; it is a social force that reshapes the fabric of professional practice. By understanding its impact through a sociological lens, we can better prepare clinicians to navigate this evolving landscape and ensure that technology enhances, rather than undermines, the human foundations of healthcare.
See also: The Automatons Will Be Automated: Why AI Will Reshape the Future of Work, which draws on the concept of the technicality to indeterminacy ratio proposed by 1970s sociologists Jamous and Pelloise to examine which roles are at risk of automation from AI.
