How will generative AI change teachers’ everyday work? What new opportunities, challenges and ethical dilemmas might emerge? And how can we ensure that AI supports teachers rather than adding to their workload?

On 30 November 2026, the LärA AI Research School will bring together international researchers and experts for a symposium at Uppsala University to discuss these questions.

LärA AI is a national research school focusing on teachers’ work environment and wellbeing in the age of generative AI. Funded by the Swedish Research Council, the research school brings together Uppsala University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the University of Gävle. With funding of SEK 42 million, the initiative supports doctoral research exploring how generative AI influences teachers’ professional roles, working conditions and everyday practices.

The research school is led by Mats Daniels and Åsa Cajander at Uppsala University and combines perspectives from human-computer interaction, education and work environment research. An important ambition is to develop knowledge that can help schools introduce and use AI in ways that support both teachers and education.

The symposium is part of this effort and offers an opportunity to bring different research perspectives together.

An international programme with a focus on teachers

The morning begins with Tony Clear from Auckland University of Technology discussing changing teacher roles and ethical dilemmas associated with agentic AI. Torkil Clemmensen from Copenhagen Business School will explore digital legacy, organisational memory and the experiences of older teachers. Eva Lundqvist from Uppsala University will share experiences of collaboration between teachers and researchers, while Netta Iivari from the University of Oulu will discuss participatory design and teachers’ opportunities to shape their future work practices.

In the afternoon, Michalis Giannakos from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology will examine human learning and interaction with AI. Mark Guzdial from the University of Michigan will discuss pressures on teachers in classrooms, while Carsten Schulte from Paderborn University will address generative AI in education from the perspective of explainable AI.

Two panel discussions will bring together the speakers with additional perspectives from Mihaela Sabin at the University of New Hampshire, Marcus Koskinen-Hagman from Ålands lyceum and Bengt Sandblad from Uppsala University.

The day concludes with an open discussion about possible ways forward for research on teachers’ work environment in the age of AI.

We look forward to a day of interesting presentations and discussions, and to exploring how research can contribute to a sustainable working environment for teachers as AI becomes an increasingly common part of education.

The symposium takes place on 30 November 2026 at Uppsala University, room Å90102, from 09.00 to 16.45.

Register here

You can find the program here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sARe57iTdD37LSxdHd4aEI92-fZO5BnAJ3kx2_eKitI/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.kt85udw4jmdr

What do you get when you bring together a group of researchers interested in service design, digitalisation and work environments? Apparently, two very productive days in Linköping. With surprisingly glorious weather as a bonus! ☀️

We have just had our first kick-off meeting for our new research project, “Tjänsteprototypande som metod för att forma digital arbetsmiljö” (Service Prototyping as a Method for Shaping Digital Work Environments).

The project addresses a familiar problem: new digital systems in healthcare are often introduced with promises of making work easier and more efficient. But sometimes the reality is rather different. More stress, new tasks, unclear responsibilities and workflows that nobody quite anticipated.

What if we could explore these consequences before introducing the technology, rather than discovering them afterwards?

That is exactly what we want to investigate!

Over the next two years, we will develop and evaluate a method using service prototypes to help healthcare organisations anticipate how new digital technologies might affect employees’ work environments, and explore how implementation processes can be adapted to prevent problems before they arise. Think of it as a rehearsal for digitalisation, where we can identify potential challenges and make adjustments before the technology is introduced.

Our research team brings together Johan Blomkvist, Fredrik Bodell, Marcus Persson and Åsa Cajander, combining expertise in service design, human-computer interaction and digital work environments.

During our two days in Linköping, we got started on planning the research, discussing methods and figuring out how to turn our ideas into something useful in practice. There were plenty of interesting discussions, new ideas and probably enough research questions to keep us busy well beyond the project’s two years.

A great start, a lovely team and sunshine in Linköping. What more could you ask for from a research kick-off?

Now the real work begins! 🚀

This week, members of the HTO research group are taking part in NordiCHI 2026 in Vaasa, Finland. NordiCHI is one of the main Nordic conferences for Human Computer Interaction and brings together researchers working with the relationships between people, technology, organizations and society.

For us, there is also a nice sense of continuity. The previous NordiCHI conference was held in Uppsala in 2024. This time, we have travelled to Vaasa as participants, contributing to several different parts of the programme.

Åsa Cajander and Viktoria Rubin are among the organisers of the workshop Empowering Users in Public Procurement: User Involvement, Work Environment, and AI in Practice, together with Marta Larusdottir, Johanna Viitanen, Torkil Clemmensen, Lilja Jóhannsdóttir Petersen, Maral Babapour Chafi and Laura Moll Meldgård.

The workshop connects closely to our research in AI PROCARE, a Nordic research project studying the procurement of AI systems in healthcare. The project asks how decisions made during procurement influence healthcare professionals’ future work environment. AI may change clinical decisions, administrative work, professional autonomy and the distribution of responsibility. This means that usability, user involvement and work environment issues need to be considered before a new system reaches the workplace, not only after implementation.

Jonathan Källbäcker is presenting the paper The Association Between User Involvement and Workload in Technology Use: A Survey of Technology Implementation Across Ground Staff and Managers at Swedish Airports. The study builds on our research on digitalisation and automation in airport ground operations. In the TARA project, we have studied how new technologies affect the everyday work of ground staff, including questions of workload, control, communication and opportunities to influence the technologies they use.

HTO is also contributing to other parts of the conference programme. Åsa Cajander is chairing the research paper session Taking Care of Ethics and participating in the panel Is AI Making Researchers’ Work More Meaningful?. The panel raises a question that is becoming increasingly relevant as generative AI becomes part of everyday academic work. AI can help with many research tasks, but efficiency is not necessarily the same thing as meaningfulness. What happens to the parts of research that we care about, such as relationships with colleagues and students, intellectual curiosity, creativity, and the careful work of producing high-quality research?

Taken together we have had a great conference!

How can organisations integrate AI into enterprise systems without losing sight of human needs?

In a new publication, Beni Suranto, Åsa Cajander and Ramesh Lal explore tensions that can arise when AI becomes part of collaborative UX design. Based on a structured review of previous research, they identify six recurring tensions, including fairness versus bias, automation versus human agency, explainability versus usability, and inclusivity versus standardisation.

The authors propose the HCAI CUX framework, which connects these tensions to five principles of Human-Centered AI: transparency, user empowerment, fairness and inclusion, iterative co-creation, and accountability.

The framework provides practical guidance for designing AI-supported enterprise systems that are not only efficient but also transparent, inclusive, and accountable.

The publication is written by Beni Suranto, Åsa Cajander and Ramesh Lal and published in Procedia Computer Science as part of the Eighth Information Systems International Conference.

You find the publication here: https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/280203/1-s2.0-S1877050926X20105/1-s2.0-S1877050926022775/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEDkaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIAnnQHCpD319MMba6NBGz5TRe3wNJa57U98sR%2FjrB3YuAiBtAzGa4D6bxhsMubN0OKkhdBqHNPmDlOMiIsG68QBsDSqzBQgCEAUaDDA1OTAwMzU0Njg2NSIM5YXl6iPSpMUvnp4OKpAFYH95LPRszth%2FVAL9NgblwZ%2BSgGdW2iz0vqgeR%2F%2BSPfOgzx3aH7EpMvCrb%2BWdthJ%2Bc8DKXOPYw7Zn%2B8qhf8TcS6GY%2BA5bMfcneK2pYGeLRYV2Yjq0l0GpNBgqvVFQEcpUlp%2BdGk7R8GLVPmXM5C5SMI0HzgbR8GNajgAmh6RBR7Dv4qQ8Ebc1v8PUEsgwr2tfsDMy4f8q3ow5HmJR5NeX60tfhOj4CehzCIth96m%2BI4XLKU1ozle3V%2Fj8Xv8GNL5OHuaK%2Bdr8f4IyreWC6usN7wIXDNAUof7HMUuhlUIFFH60Qb7Jur6IdaZK8xjL6gsZHfOwwUoPOmMlIyTaB%2BGs8Zk9nPUeMzur02GwUb7fnOU2vuyZiRXTAvsWzeOxteHnIYnYD38SZouaxpWV42352KBD29zwXF6%2BHPrjRU%2Fk7Dm%2BHN%2FR6wGw86wtJjeyEnru7T%2F8oG%2B4zhgKrbSMMSlvW6PNCk55MITEwNXzKDCODVfjSUmaKd9k0HaUGKe6%2FUJS9JmZPdzViVEm%2FVQfArKS%2B3Rxl51sy4CQk0LqWzrhIiq1Ota90ZLEVJKnn9e8iU2CYLnu2zoAw9MCPX5GX5lJ7t1FpA%2B3dO7rwl1ERPKko3zyCVT2bVScqGGoGhvrwIk2Z0SdSm%2BUe%2FGdPcpK9Wzv8DVi1NKrZ6X%2FPiQ9vCjPHWvX2kIElKZhi%2FxnMCF6PSAw1RgZzRjld%2FHhW0shlCB1tzpub8hSd8w3JLKnPK6qNkRBaNuHCoP4NAn%2F2vFmnkS8Q8k7JokfG1z5Ma2wh710d%2BFMiYzNewcQHTX%2BJgwP7F0Vsb86b%2Fy%2FSe0IO9CX9bExQzJrYlQiBay0LmuU5J0csJduREXvyc40CqmgBCwujeIw0ov90wY6sgENaceDIckMbwR4ZdiuopR4lTonNtIjAVewuz6HtwWY5gPfRvHENsjlkaX66ZeWzkLDSDMp0Cvh7Z%2BdF1pd5gJr1Gx6GhGVgPd5tcdHKo9MIHh5OhAMhy3U7rLde%2FWSeGLYnmLep6qePz4MeElwkDAXCjfA%2B8xKuBeIbBD06kCuDImS7%2FuGfw0%2BJcvBXysAjP9Cp8O%2BxPz1aS6al8fK3G2Gv6QUdjEwk0YkgbVoQk64ZTMS&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20260814T175023Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYTTG2LI63%2F20260814%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=2e8b9cbaf35e9ed9a17275dc2957605ee7cdd40ae6c76b1ab09f57ef94971c58&hash=f3cd27056510814f462cb5c4fcb445998d7daf4ffda3c8bcc23561a2fcd8bfa7&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S1877050926022775&tid=spdf-54fa60f5-4f25-4d69-b1f1-ea13101e7b5d&sid=587d993f2bdfc94eb6692b11d33e6450138agxrqa&type=client&tsoh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&rh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&ua=0903065300540707505506&rr=a2b1cd34eac94e58&cc=se

A new study published in DIGITAL HEALTH explores which information patients consider especially sensitive in their electronic health records.

The study is based on survey responses from 4,459 users of the Finnish national patient portal My Kanta. Mental health information was by far the most commonly mentioned type of sensitive information. Patients who had received mental health care were also considerably more likely to report that some health information was especially sensitive compared with patients who had received other types of care.

An important finding was that sensitivity was not only about the type of information. Patients also described how sensitivity depends on context, including who can access the information, how it might be used, and whether it could have consequences for future care, employment, insurance, or how they are treated by others.

The findings highlight the importance of careful documentation and thoughtful design of patient portals. The authors suggest that patients could be given greater possibilities to limit access to certain information or mark information as particularly sensitive. They also emphasize the importance of involving patients and health care professionals when designing patient accessible health records.

The study was conducted by Saija Simola, Sari Kujala, Anna Kharko, Josefin Hagström, Charlotte Blease, Åsa Cajander, Rose Mharie Åhlfeldt, Bo Wang, Bridget Kane, and Maria Hägglund.

You find the paper here: https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:2068551/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Digital systems at work are often procured, designed, and evaluated one system at a time. But employees rarely work that way. Their daily tasks typically involve moving between several systems, tools, and workflows, which together shape both performance and well-being.

In a new article in Behavior & Information Technology, Marta Larusdottir and Åsa Cajander examine three design methods that can help broaden this perspective: Contextual Personas, Contextual Think Aloud, and Vision Seminars. Their analysis of six empirical studies shows that the methods can help designers understand not only how people use individual systems, but also the wider organizational, social, and cognitive conditions of their digital work environment.

The three methods can support different parts of development. Contextual Personas can help understand users and their work early in the process. Contextual Think-Aloud can be used to evaluate how a system fits into real-world work. Vision Seminars can support discussions about future work practices and the wider digital environment.

The findings also point to challenges, including the risk of stereotypes in personas, difficulties for some users in thinking aloud, and the time and resources required for Vision Seminars. Still, the study suggests that moving beyond a single system-thinking approach is both possible and important when designing digital workplaces that support people in their actual work.

Authors: Marta Larusdottir, Reykjavik University, and Åsa Cajander, Uppsala University.

Article: Beyond one system thinking exploring design methods for understanding the digital work environment, published in Behaviour & Information Technology.

AI och automatiserade triagesystem blir allt vanligare i svensk primärvård. Förhoppningen är ofta att tekniken ska effektivisera arbetet, förbättra tillgängligheten och avlasta vårdpersonalen. Men hur påverkas egentligen sjuksköterskornas arbete när AI blir en del av vardagen?

I en ny studie har vi intervjuat 29 sjuksköterskor som arbetar med ett AI-stött triagesystem där patienter beskriver sina symtom digitalt, får automatiskt genererade frågor och därefter kommunicerar med sjuksköterskor via chatt.

Resultaten visar att AI inte ersätter sjuksköterskornas kompetens. Snarare förändras arbetet.

Många sjuksköterskor beskriver hur de får ett nytt, ofta osynligt, arbete med att tolka, kontrollera och ibland korrigera systemets bedömningar. Trots att AI-systemet sorterar och sammanfattar information krävs fortfarande professionell bedömning för att avgöra vad som är relevant, vad som saknas och om systemets prioritering verkligen är rimlig.

Studien visar också att nya digitala arbetsuppgifter tillkommer. Sjuksköterskorna behöver navigera mellan flera olika IT-system, hantera stora mängder textbaserad information och ofta hålla flera patientärenden igång samtidigt. Det ställer höga krav på både digital kompetens och koncentrationsförmåga.

Samtidigt beskriver många att de förlorar något viktigt när patientkontakten sker via text istället för via telefon eller fysiska möten. Tonfall, tvekan, oro och andra nyanser som kan vara avgörande i en bedömning blir svårare att fånga. Flera sjuksköterskor berättar att de behöver arbeta aktivt med sitt språk för att kunna förmedla empati, lugn och trygghet i skrift.

En annan viktig fråga handlar om arbetsmiljön. Flera deltagare upplevde att de fick mindre kontroll över sitt arbete när systemet styrde arbetsflödet. Chattarna fortsätter att komma in även under perioder med hög belastning, och möjligheterna att själv styra arbetstakten eller ta pauser upplevdes som mindre än i traditionell telefonrådgivning. Att hantera flera parallella patientdialoger samtidigt beskrevs som mentalt krävande och stundtals stressande.

Studien visar också att införandet av AI påverkar relationer på arbetsplatsen. När mer arbete sker digitalt och på distans riskerar spontana möten och informellt kollegialt stöd att minska. Samtidigt lyfter sjuksköterskorna fram att digitala möjligheter att rådfråga kollegor och läkare kan skapa nya former av samarbete.

Det kanske viktigaste budskapet från studien är att AI i vården inte bara är en teknisk fråga. När nya system införs förändras också arbetsmiljön, yrkesrollen och förutsättningarna för att ge god vård. För att digitaliseringen ska bli hållbar behöver vi därför inte bara fråga vad tekniken kan göra, utan också vilket arbete den skapar för dem som använder den varje dag.

Läs artikeln här: https://academic.oup.com/iwc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/iwc/iwag031/8702965?utm_source=authortollfreelink&utm_campaign=iwc&utm_medium=email&guestAccessKey=cde98487-312c-4851-bcd6-b73154eec533