Relational Meanings of AI in Disability Care: An Intersectional, Arts-Based Inquiry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into care systems, yet little is known about how care service providers perceive and respond to AI in their service provision in the context of supporting culturally and linguistically diverse migrants with disabilities. This study draws on an intersectionality-informed, arts-based research approach to explore how care providers make sense of AI, with attention to how their perceptions are shaped by social identities, professional experiences, and media narratives. A one-act play, constructed from data collected through participatory workshops with 15 care providers, illustrates that participants engage with AI as a relational, emotionally charged, and socially situated phenomenon. Their understanding reflected intersecting experiences of racialization, migration, gender, and labor precarity, as well as exposure to dominant media portrayals of AI. Their narratives showed a mix of fear, ambivalence, and cautious optimism rooted in concern about job security and loss of relational care, alongside hopes that AI might enhance accessibility and reduce human error. The play-based format captured the dialogic, affective, and embodied dimensions of participants’ meaning-making, challenging technocratic and disembodied ways of knowing about AI and care. Findings suggest that inclusive and reflective spaces are critical for care providers to engage meaningfully with AI technologies and that intersectionality must inform the design, governance, and implementation of AI in care settings.