Intelligent Technologies and the Reconfiguration of Work: An Editorial

Sarwar, Atif, Curtis, Lucill, Oltramari, Andrea and Siddique, Muhammed (2026) Intelligent Technologies and the Reconfiguration of Work: An Editorial. Frontiers in Sociology. ISSN 2297-7775 (In Press)

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Abstract

These technologies are reshaping decision-making, professional work, and organising across various industries (Chalmers et al., 2026;Spring et al., 2022). For decades, professions were insulated from this change due to their protected boundaries (Faulconbridge et al., 2024) and professional identities (Scarbrough et al., 2025), combined with a consistent gap between technology's promise and organisational readiness. This has resulted in increasing tensions between the speed of technology's evolution and the reliability of its outputs, and between promised algorithmic efficiency and the contextual judgment fundamental to meaningful work (Lebovitz et al., 2021;Pakarinen & Huising, 2025).Further research into the impact of intelligent technologies on work and workers is required because 'intelligent technologies' are not a single thing. Predictive, generative, agentic, and embodied systems operate through different logics and produce distinct organisational outcomes (Jarrahi & Glaser, 2025). The studies treating these varying technologies as singular in their impact and underlying principles, often termed as 'algorithmic management', run the risk of misrepresenting potential threats and benefits of these technologies (Kellogg et al., 2020). Different technologies elicit specific forms of adaptation, resistance, and contestation among professional workers who use them in their everyday work (Glaser et al., 2021;Pachidi et al., 2021).These human responses are important and need studying as professionals using these technologies are not passive recipients of algorithmic change; they contest, resist, and often work around the structures placed by intelligent technologies, defending their professional autonomy and developing approaches to calibrate AI output, against their own judgment (Sarwar & Faulconbridge, 2026;Lebovitz et al., 2022). Furthermore, these micro-level dynamics cannot be divorced from macro-level institutional forces that shape how these intelligent technologies are aligned with the values of those deploying and using these systems (Glaser et al., 2025;Zuboff, 2019).the impact of intelligent technologies on the work reconfiguration is a pressing question facing organisations, workers and society (Anthony et al., 2023;Chalmers et al., 2026).The first paper in the special issue (Nastasa et al. 2025) argues that intelligent technologies are not just shaping the labour market, but also reconfiguring the environment for AI expertise itself. Authors, analyse around 800 job postings on EURAXESS platform, using text mining and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modelling. They illustrate an increasing demand for research and digital skills, along with communication and enterprise, representing distinct epistemic cultures. This contribution offers a distinctive insight into how the professional boundaries of AI work are actively reproduced through recruitment practices.The second paper in this special issue, (Wawera et al., 2025) argues intelligent technology driven innovations does not occur in a vacuum, rather they are accompanied by the reconfiguration of work itself. They conducted a scoping review of 99 articles and present an integrated framework organising workplace transformations, across four dimensions i.e. flexibility, digitalisation, democratisation, and agility, and further 14 subdimensions. Their framework offers a valuable and timely insight into the organisational conditions within which intelligent technologies are adopted, contested, and embedded.The (Klowait & Erofeeva, 2025) paper, draws on Goffman's dramaturgical framework, providing a nuanced and sociologically grounded account of the impact of AI on work. They suggest the entanglement of AI and professionals is as symbolic as it is interactional, where workers continuously stage, conceal, and renegotiate genuine expertise. They argue that large language models, while quietly taking over the invisible, routinised labour, leave professionals enacting the visible, relational performances central to professional prestige. Interestingly, the paper was intentionally written with the aid of frontier AI models, thus making it a meta-reflexive performance of the very dynamic it theorises. Therefore, the paper explains why utopian and dystopian narratives misread how AI affects professional work and how automation unfolds, demanding a more humancentred policy response.The next paper (Sha & Chai, 2025) explores the employee reaction when AI is introduced into their work setting. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Theory, they show how professionals, in response to AI, reshape (job crafting) their own roles and tasks. Surveying 370 employees actively using AI, this study highlights the mediating role, job insecurity plays in job crafting. They argue the mediating role of job insecurity is amplified or dampened by the employees' AI knowledge, thus suggesting that organisations should cultivate AI literacy rather than rely on stress as a motivational lever. The findings directly contribute to the discussion on ethical people management in the age of algorithmic transformation.The final paper in this special issue (Luwei & Huimin, 2024) focuses on how intelligent technologies are not just reconfiguring tasks and processes but also professional careers. Adopting a mixed methods approach, this paper investigates the key drivers and barriers to career development, primarily in intelligent technologies-adjacent emerging industries. They argue that in these times of technological transformation, career motivation and social networks play a crucial role in instilling greater resilience in professionals as they face external career barriers, such as the introduction of intelligent technologies into the workplace. The findings highlight the importance of fair and inclusive labour market policies to support professionals in adapting to changing work environments.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Marketing
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	19 May 2026 13:12
Last Modified:	19 May 2026 13:12
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103099
DOI:	issn:2297-7775

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