Artificial Intelligence technologies’ impact on the work design of healthcare professionals: a scoping review and future research agenda

While human resource management (HRM) literature has started to recognize that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are transforming work structures, impact-related knowledge of AI technologies on work design remains scarce. Our paper answers recent calls for contextualized accounts of HRM in healthcare by analyzing the changes to healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) work design brought about by AI. To accomplish this, we conducted a scoping review of journal articles published in PsycINFO, Web of Science, and ProQuest up to May 2026. We identified 125 relevant articles mostly in healthcare-related journals. The articles described AI’s impact on HCPs’ work, yet most overlooked what this means from a work design perspective. By applying Parker and Grote’s work design model as our conceptual framework, we found that all five work design characteristics are evident across the reviewed papers, pointing towards a new sub-characteristic, namely, accountability. Furthermore, we saw that changes in one characteristic resulting from AI may have rippling effects on others. Our AI-driven Work Design Synergies Model (AWDS) captures the interlinked character of changes to work design characteristics, and introduces a temporal dimension whereby, over time, improvement in one characteristic of work design can lead to deterioration in another. We conclude by emphasizing the need for longitudinal research on these interrelationships.