Human and Robot Complementary Practices in Relations of Dependence in a Hospital Laboratory

The paper presents a study of the work of human staff with robots in a hospital laboratory. I suggest that deeper insights can be gained by combining an ethnographic approach with a novel conceptualization of human and robot relations of dependence in the performance of work as complementary practices. This approach illuminates the nature and practical details of complementary practices for the accomplishment of work. I suggest that a complementarity practice perspective extends the literature by illuminating the ways in which the complementary work that robots may perform for human staff depends on the complementary work that humans provide for robots. Moreover, by including a case of several robots, the study extends the literature by pointing out how complexity increases when several robots and humans are brought together in complementary practices. I suggest that understanding humans’ and robots’ complementary practices in and for the accomplishment of work tasks bears implications for the increasing use of robots in the hospital sector and beyond, specifically for politicians, planners and managers when assessing the intended and unintended effects of automation.