‘Feelings’ as identity work: A case of AI and Patent Attorneys in Australia
Sumati Ahuja, E Mastio, Helena Heizmann · UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) · 2020
This paper presents an exploratory account of how patent attorneys understand the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and their professional identity. Drawing on observations supplemented by interview data with patent attorneys working in a large Australian Intellectual property (IP) firm, we draw attention to how patent attorneys assert their professional identities in ways that maintain their expert status alongside specific AI tools. In particular, we expose talk of ‘feelings’ as a form of identity work that allows patent attorneys to claim continued relevance and cope with the introduction of AI and changes to the situated practices of professionals in professional service firms (PSFs). The aim of our research is (1) to nuance extant understandings of the influence of AI technologies on professional identity and (2) build on emerging discussions that AI can be designed to augment the work of human experts rather than replacing the professional.