The Generative Conversations project, led by Associate Professor Michael Rowe, addresses the urgent need for physiotherapists to actively engage with AI integration across clinical practice, education and research and provides a practical framework for thoughtful AI adoption.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing how physiotherapy education and healthcare are provided across the world. Physiopedia have long been calling for our profession to take an active role in shaping how we can harness health technology and AI – back at the World Congress of Physical Therapy (WCPT) in 2019 Physiopedia Founder Rachael Lowe was encouraging Physiotherapists to get involved and learn to work with the technology to augment our human ability. Little did she know then that a few years later Physiopedia would have developed our very own Physiopedia AI Assistant (PAI), which is helping physiotherapists all over the globe to develop their clinical confidence and reduce administration burden. So we were really interested when Physiopedia friend and Associate Professor for Digital Innovation at the University of Lincoln in the UK Michael Rowe shared his latest project with us – the Generative Conversations project.
Michael tells us that “The Generative Conversations project emerged out of the planning phase of a workshop presented at the 2024 IFOMPT conference in Basel when we realised that, while many physiotherapists were curious about AI, few felt equipped to navigate its integration into practice.” And so the project was born – with extensive consultation with a wide range of international colleagues with diverse perspectives, this initiative aims to offer something practical to us all, a focus on what AI can actually do today, rather than speculation about tomorrow, with suggestions for a series of strategies for responding.
Unless physiotherapists are actively engaged in a conversation around AI in clinical practice we run the risk that our clinical decision-making will be subject to machine intelligence, rather than informed by it. – Rowe, Nicholls & Shaw (2022)
Why should you care? Because your patients are already using AI health tools. Your students are submitting AI-assisted assignments. Your colleagues are experimenting with documentation assistants. The question isn’t whether to engage with AI, but how to do so thoughtfully.
The project examines AI’s impact across three critical domains. In clinical practice, it explores how AI might enhance pattern recognition and personalise treatment whilst warning against over-reliance that could erode hands-on expertise. For education, it considers AI’s potential to create sophisticated clinical simulations alongside concerns about academic integrity and reduced practical skills. In research, it weighs accelerated literature analysis against threats to reproducibility and skill development.
Rather than prescribing solutions, the project poses essential questions: How do we maintain the therapeutic relationship when technology intervenes? Who’s liable when AI-assisted decisions go wrong? How do we prevent AI from widening healthcare inequalities? The outcome for each domain is a series of questions aimed at a range of professional stakeholders, aiming to inform discussion rather than provide answers.
The full discussion document doesn’t advocate for or against AI – it equips you to make informed decisions. Because whilst we can’t stop technological change, we can shape how it serves our core purpose.
Visit the Generative Conversations project to join the discussion shaping physiotherapy’s digital future.
The Generative Conversations project offers physiotherapists a crucial opportunity to proactively shape how AI integrates into our profession rather than passively accepting technological change. By engaging with this initiative’s thoughtful framework and essential questions, we can ensure AI serves to enhance rather than replace the human elements that remain central to effective physiotherapy practice. Thanks to Michael Rowe for sharing this work with our community.
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