Karl Atkin
Papers
2
Total Citations
4
H-Index
2
About
Karl Atkin is a leading sociologist of technology and care, whose research sits at the intersection of science and technology studies (STS), medical sociology, and human-robot interaction. His major contributions centre on critically examining how healthcare robots are designed, deployed, and experienced in real-world clinical settings. Atkin’s ethnographic work, most notably his study of the teleoperated robot Välkky on a Finnish hospital ward, reveals the gap between techno-optimistic expectations and the messy, emergent realities of robotic care—what he terms “robocentric nursing care.” His 2024 paper on this subject, though recently published, has already garnered 2 citations for its novel, grounded approach. In his 2025 paper, “Towards a Sociology of Healthcare Robots,” Atkin proposes a bold new framework that foregrounds the heterogeneous ethics of mutual labour and the contested definitions of care that arise during robot design and deployment. This narrative literature review synthesises decades of assistive robot research to argue that robots do not simply deliver care but reshape what care means. Atkin’s work is essential reading for anyone interested in the social life of technology, offering a critical, empirically rich counterpoint to purely technical or optimistic narratives about the future of healthcare automation.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Towards a Sociology of Healthcare Robots2 citations · 2025