Bastian Pelka

Purpose: This opinion piece explores the social, organisational, and political conditions under which artificial intelligence (AI) can genuinely foster inclusion for people with disabilities and other marginalised groups. While AI shows clear potential in fields such as rehabilitation, education, and social care, it also faces structural and cultural barriers that hinder its meaningful adoption. Design/methodology/approach: Thus, the authors argue that technological innovation alone is insufficient; rather, AI must be understood as part of a sociotechnical system operating across three interrelated levels: individual (micro), organisational (meso), and societal (macro). Findings: Accordingly, the paper introduces and discusses three theses alongside the question “What does AI need in order to meaningfully support inclusion—and why is technological innovation alone insufficient?”. Originality/value: By reframing AI as a collective sociotechnical endeavour rather than a “miracle technology,” the paper highlights that meaningful sustainable inclusion emerges only when participatory processes, organisational readiness and socio-political frameworks interact productively.

1. The Federal Republic of Germany has established a broad array of legal instruments aimed at promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce (Jochmaring and York 2023). Furth...

Background: Assistive technologies (ATs) that use functions based on artificial intelligence (AI) are set to become more relevant in the coming years. While research highlights the important role of professionals in social services in successfully implementing ATs, it remains unclear which factors are relevant in the context of AI-infused ATs. Objective: With this scoping review, we aimed to discover which aspects influence the acceptance of professionals working in social services towards AI-infused ATs. Design: Online databases were used to identify papers published 2019–2024, from which we selected six studies examining the viewpoints of professionals in education, (health)care, and therapy. Thematic analysis of the selected studies was executed and principal findings are summarized. Results: All six studies did research on socially assistive/care robotics. 3 out of 6 studies utilized technology acceptance models in their research. The thematic analysis identified five categories as external predictors and four as contextual factors. Two studies reported results based on factors from other theories. Conclusion: This review reveals the scarcity of research on the acceptance of professionals in social services towards AI-infused assistive technologies, with results drawing exclusively from human-robot-interaction research. We propose that more research is needed to determine what factors are relevant for the acceptance of AI-infused assistive technologies by professionals in social services.

This paper describes the development of guidelines for participatory technology development with people with disabilities, drawing on von Unger’s participation model, and the MEESTAR (Model for Ethical Evaluation of Socio-Technical Arrangements) model. As an empirical foundation, six participatory technology development projects using inclusive design are examined. Each project highlights the importance of involving people with disabilities to ensure that the developed technology effectively meets their needs. The article discusses the challenges and success factors encountered during the research by focusing on these six specific projects. It then provides concrete suggestions for improving future research and participatory technology development. Emphasizing comprehensive participation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and effective dissemination strategies, the paper aims to enhance project success and impact.

Purpose: In the project “Working the way I want” (AWIEW), people with and without disabilities are co-creating a needs assessment tool (NAT) to support participation in the labour market. This tool will include a technological solution at its core and a set of tested new social practices for its successful application in Germany.Design/methodology/approach: The AWIEW project combines several methods and a participatory approach from different disciplines in a transdisciplinary project design. At the micro level, the participatory design approach is used to jointly develop the digital tool with people with disabilities (PWD). At the meso level, semi-structured interviews are used to gather data from different stakeholders in the PWD’ social ecosystem to uncover factors facilitating or hindering the successful transition of PWD to the labour market.Findings: This paper discusses how transdisciplinary results can be incorporated into the development of a tool that supports PWD in navigating their occupational orientation processes. Some preliminary findings are: (a) Vocational orientation for PWD often starts with difficulties in imagining a future job; participative designs need to start from this premise. (b) PWD’ knowledge about the labour market depends on information provided by their social ecosystem; thus, research and design must take this ecosystem into account. (c) Welfare organisations instil a feeling of security and competence within their structures that has to be considered in needs assessment – both as a hindering and an empowering factor.Originality/value: This paper highlights the importance of combining a digital solution and new practices for a promising approach towards enhancing the participation of PWD in the labour market.