Navigating the Impact of AI Technology on Professional Identity: A Study of RIM Practitioners in ESARBICA Member States
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Navigating the Impact of AI on RIM Professional Identity Slide 1: Title SlideGood afternoon, Thank you for being here. I hail from Botswana, and I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with SAFIR at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, where I also lecture in Records and Archival Studies. The insights I present today stem from my deep interest in the evolving identity of our profession. Slide 2: The Problem at Hand · "We are living in a global paradigm shift. AI is actively transforming every sector, and the field of Records and Information Management is next in line." · "While AI promises a revolution in efficiency, it also introduces a deep sense of uncertainty and anxiety for the professionals who are the backbone of information governance." · "This creates our central problem: While AI offers immense potential, it simultaneously poses a fundamental threat to the professional identity of RIM practitioners." · "This leads to our research question: How is AI perceived by RIM practitioners in the ESARBICA region, and what is the true impact on their professional identity, status, and future intentions?" Slide 3: The Foundation: A Pre-Existing RIM Professional Identity Crisis"To understand why AI poses such a unique threat, we must first recognize that it is not starting on solid ground. For decades, the RIM profession has been grappling with a deep-seated identity crisis." · "Studies show RIM professionals struggle with a lack of clear identity, often mistaken for IT staff or archivists. There is significant ambiguity around our roles and competencies." · "This lack of clarity has real consequences, leading to a lack of recognition and respect, which impacts self-esteem and the confidence to advocate professionally." · "This pre-existing identity crisis makes the RIM profession uniquely vulnerable. AI acts as a 'threat amplifier,' compounding a problem we have had for generations." Slide 4: Theoretical Foundations"Our study is grounded in the work of Craig, Thatcher, & Grover (2019) on 'IT Identity'—the concept that technology use can become part of one's self-concept. When this is threatened, it triggers a powerful psychological response." "Building on this, we use the 'AI Identity Threat Framework' by Mirbabaie et al. (2022). This framework posits that AI triggers a 'threat appraisal' where professionals assess if AI diminishes their skills, status, or autonomy." "This lens is perfect for RIM. It allows us to move beyond asking if AI is 'good or bad,' and instead to scientifically measure how it threatens the professional self, informing our key constructs like loss of skills, status, and autonomy." Slide 5: Methodology at a Glance"Our methodology was robust. We developed a questionnaire based on established scales and distributed it via professional groups on social media using purposive and snowball sampling." · "We retrieved 451 responses. After cleaning for low engagement, we had 444 usable cases for analysis." · "The data was analyzed using SPSS. We validated our constructs, confirming all factor loadings were above 0.5 and that the Cronbach's Alpha for all constructs was above 0.7, indicating strong reliability." Slide 7: The Landscape of AI-Induced Threats"Our data reveals a clear hierarchy of concerns. Loss of Status Position is the foremost threat, followed closely by Loss of Autonomy and Controllability." · The high Standard Deviations, all above 1.0 are critical. They show a profession divided. For every practitioner who feels highly threatened, there is another who feels secure. There is no consensus. · These threats are also interconnected, forming a powerful 'threat cluster' that amplifies overall professional anxiety. Slide 8: The Path Forward: Key Mitigating FactorsDespite the threats, our data reveals powerful positive forces. Practitioners strongly believe in Explainable AI (XAI) as a collaborator, with the highest mean of 3.82. · A strong RIM Culture and a mildly positive AI Identity are also seen as key foundations for confident adaptation." · Short Points: 1. Transparency Builds Trust: Explainable AI (XAI) is key to confidence. 2. Culture is a Catalyst: A strong RIM culture enables adaptation. 3. Identity is an Asset: A positive AI identity buffers against threat. Slide 9: The Professional ParadoxVisual: A table contrasting PIT and Use Intention scores. "We see a fascinating paradox: a relatively low Professional Identity Threat (2.28) coexists with an overwhelmingly high Intention to Use AI (4.04)." "This tells us that willingness does not equal comfort. Practitioners feel the strategic necessity to adopt but do so with significant underlying apprehension." Short Points: High intention to use AI does not equate to a low sense of threat. The profession is navigating between strategic necessity and professional self-preservation. Slide 10: The Human Voice: Qualitative InsightsVisual: The chart with four themes and quotes. "The qualitative comments give a powerful voice to the statistics. We identified four core themes of anxiety." "These range from Existential Job Displacement, 'a cancer to my career' to the Erosion of Status and Loss of Control over record integrity." "Critically, the 'Double Bind' theme highlights the systemic challenge in ESARBICA: practitioners feel pressure to adapt to a future they are systemically unprepared for, with many seeing AI as 'just a dream' due to infrastructural gaps." Slide 11: A Synthesized Model of FindingsVisual: The conceptual model of your findings. "Bringing our findings together, we propose this synthesized model. It shows how the Antecedents of Threat fuel the central Professional Identity Threat, which in turn influences the Intention to Use AI." "Crucially, this process is moderated by the factors at the top: AI Identity, RIM Culture, and XAI. These can weaken the link between the threats and the identity crisis." "This model gives us a robust correlational understanding. The next step is to measure the strength of these specific pathways." Slide 12: Future ResearchVisual: A magnifying glass over one pathway in the previous model. "The primary direction for future research is to employ Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)." "SEM will allow us to quantify the precise impact of each antecedent, test the mediating mechanisms, and statistically validate the power of the moderators like XAI and RIM Culture." "This will transform our conceptual map into a predictive, quantitative model." Slide 13: From Insight to Action: Practical & Policy ImplicationsVisual: A slide with clear, actionable points.(Present the points on the slide, then elaborate) "For Professional Bodies (ESARBICA, ICA), we urge the launch of a 'RIM-AI Competency Framework' by 2025 to combat skill irrelevance and provide a clear upskilling pathway. Archival school curricula must also be updated immediately." "For Policymakers (National Governments), we recommend funding 'AI Readiness Audits' for public records centers to tackle the 'Double Bind' with data. Furthermore, public procurement should mandate Explainable AI (XAI) standards to build trust and address loss of control." "For RIM Professionals & Managers, the onus is on us. We must proactively pursue AI-related certifications and volunteer to lead cross-functional AI teams to secure our status and shape the technology from the start."
Author: Shonhe, Liah
Institution: Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
Language: English
Subfield: Conservation
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7103911429
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