# Promoting User Involvement to Foster Technological Citizenship in the Digitizing Healthcare Domain

## TL;DR

The paper explores how involving healthcare workers like nurses in AI development can improve technology and care practices.

## Contribution

It presents a case study showing that nurse involvement in AI development enhances innovation and empowers healthcare workers.

## Key findings

- Involving nurses in AI development improves socio-technical care practices.
- User involvement increases developers' recognition of its importance.
- Nurses feel more empowered when involved in technology impacting their work.

## Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly prominent role in healthcare technology, particularly in patient monitoring and diagnosis. While AI offers significant benefits, it raises concerns about the patient-provider relationship and key care values. To mitigate these risks and align technology with societal values, experts stress the importance of user involvement in technology development. However, input from patients or nurses during AI development remains uncommon. The rapidly digitizing healthcare thus demonstrates a context where technological citizenship is not yet thriving, underscoring the need for improvement in this area. This article examines a case study where nurses contributed to the development of an AI-driven monitoring camera for the cardiothoracic surgery department. Based on interview data, our study shows that involving users, particularly nurses, can lead to the improved innovation of a socio-technical care practice, greater recognition of the importance of user involvement among technology developers, and increased empowerment of nurses with regards to the technology that impacts their work practice. To promote technological citizenship in the evolving healthcare landscape, this article offers recommendations for fostering greater user involvement during the development and implementation of new technologies.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11948-025-00565-w.