Introduction: The Disruption of Professional Boundaries
Modern professions have safeguarded their power and economic status by monopolising knowledge, regulating access to their expertise, and as a result, securing privileged access to funding streams. But artificial intelligence is disrupting these boundaries in ways few people fully grasp. AI is no longer just an assistant to professionals—it is actively replacing the intellectual authority that once defined them.
We are witnessing a fundamental shift. AI is becoming the new hegemonic force in knowledge control, rapidly replacing professions, academia, and traditional expertise structures. This process, which I term Algorithmic Closure* where AI, rather than human professionals, determines knowledge legitimacy and access, represents a seismic transformation in the way knowledge is generated, distributed, and validated.
How Professions Have Historically Controlled Knowledge
Professions have traditionally maintained control through exclusive access to education, training, and regulation. By restricting knowledge to their members through licensing and legal frameworks, and securing privileged access to funding, they have shaped their power structures – or professional closure. Medicine, for example, maintains dominance over prescribing rights, surgery, and hospital privileges, thereby directly and indirectly restricting the practice of other workers in this space. Medical hegemony has shaped the modern, western health workforce (and beyond) through their monopoly over areas of practice, and through their direct and indirect ability to influence the scope of practice of other professions (for several examples, see our book on The Allied Health Professions: A Sociological Perspective).
Other professions establish their monopoly through state regulation – although, in Australia the majority of health professions are not state (AHPRA) regulated, and are able to achieve professional closure through other means, such as negotiating limited access to privileges (like funding) to registered members of professional associations. One example is the very small, niche profession of pedorthists (orthopaedic footwear manufacturers) who have secured professional closure by ensuring only their certified members can access key funding, such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This makes it difficult for other – non-certified – occupations to deliver similar services because they cannot receive government funding for the provision of often expensive, bespoke, medical footwear.
This dynamic has ensured that professional groups operate as tightly controlled tribes, enabling them to control membership while reinforcing their legal and financial exclusivity.
AI as the New Intellectual Hegemon
Historically, professions, academia, and institutions have been the gatekeepers of knowledge. AI, however, is eroding their control by making knowledge instantly accessible, rapidly synthesised, and iterated upon without human intervention.
In healthcare, AI-driven diagnostics and patient self-management are reducing reliance on health professionals across many fields. In law, AI-powered legal research and contract analysis challenge the authority of legal professionals. In education, AI-generated research and automated teaching threaten the traditional role of academics.
Professions can no longer justify knowledge control based on information scarcity, as AI provides instant access to expertise at a scale no human can match.
Algorithmic Closure: The New Professional Boundary
Traditionally, professions achieved professional closure by controlling access to knowledge. Now, AI itself is becoming the gatekeeper of truth. Algorithmic Closure occurs when AI, rather than human experts, determines what knowledge is accessible, legitimate, and valuable. Instead of professionals curating expertise, AI dynamically filters and structures information, shaping what knowledge is surfaced and what remains hidden. AI systems do not just broker knowledge but also curates and synthesises knowledge, generating insights that professions can no longer claim exclusive ownership over.
What This Means for Professions, Academia, and Society
Professions are already redefining their roles. Instead of being knowledge holders, professionals must become navigators of AI-driven information, ethical decision-makers, and curators of critical judgment. Many professions will cease to exist in their current form, while others will need to integrate AI augmentation into their practice.
Health professionals often engage with AI as though it is merely another tool under their control, rather than recognising the fundamental transformation it represents. AI is not just assisting professionals; it is actively redefining the structure of expertise and decision-making, reframing interprofessional and patient-profession boundaries.
Academia is also resisting AI rather than adapting to it. Peer review, academic publishing, and traditional degrees are being challenged as AI accelerates knowledge iteration. Academics are attempting to act as gatekeepers to AI, controlling when and where it is used, rather than acknowledging that knowledge production has already moved beyond traditional academic models. Thought leadership is shifting away from academia and into blogs, newsletters, AI-assisted research communities, and real-time intellectual discourse.
The public is increasingly at the mercy of algorithmic knowledge control. AI now dictates what knowledge is surfaced in search results, research summaries, and policy recommendations. This raises concerns about manipulation, bias, and censorship, with no professional body holding AI accountable.
This is not just a shift in professions—it is a fundamental change in how knowledge itself is created, validated, and controlled.
The End of Professions or a New Role?
AI is not just changing work—it is reshaping knowledge, power, and professional identity. Algorithmic Closure is replacing professional gatekeeping with AI-driven knowledge control. The future belongs to those who embrace AI as a cognitive collaborator, rather than resisting it.
The biggest question now is: Will professionals adapt, or will AI simply move past them?
A Real-World Example of Algorithmic Closure
While writing this article, I encountered a practical demonstration of Algorithmic Closure in action. When attempting to generate an AI image depicting a well-known tech mogul as the controlling robotic figure, the request was blocked due to content policies.
This raises an important question: If AI systems dictate what can and cannot be visualized, discussed, or published, how does this shape knowledge, public perception, and historical narratives?
AI is not just replacing professional expertise—it is actively curating reality itself.
*I’ll be expanding on the concept of algorithmic closure in an upcoming academic publication
