Daniel Robins

Papers

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About

Daniel Robins is a pioneering sociologist of technology whose research centers on the sociotechnical dynamics of healthcare robotics, with a particular focus on how care robots are imagined, deployed, and negotiated in real-world clinical settings. His major contributions include developing a novel framework for a "sociology of healthcare robots," which foregrounds the heterogeneous ethics of mutual labor and the complex, emergent definitions of care that arise through robot design and deployment. This theoretical work, outlined in his 2025 paper, is complemented by rich ethnographic insights from his fieldwork in Finland, where he documented the trial of a teleoperated care robot named Välkky on a hospital neurological ward. His 2024 study reveals a compelling narrative arc of shifting expectations and emergent robocentric nursing care as staff and patients interacted with the robot. Though early in his career, Robins’ work is already shaping critical conversations about the social implications of automation in healthcare, offering a vital counterpoint to purely technical or optimistic narratives. His research is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of care work and human-robot interaction.