AI vs. Human Touch: Changing the Landscape for NMS Professionals

In an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens job security, recent studies highlight the irreplaceable value when people connect with others that share their values, and the things that symbolize those values.

Which is why there’s a growing relevance for Neuromusculoskeletal (NMS) professionals. Despite billions spent annually marketing drugs and non-nutritional food, and the institutionalization of society (blame corporations or government…your choice), NMS pros have unrealized potential for greater relevance as healers in our tech society: The powers of touch in body, and mind.

Leveraging Symbols, Stories & Actions

Recent studies show a consumer’s decision to buy is driven by symbolic motives in addition to practical considerations. Researcher and Wharton Marketing professor Stefano Puntoni define symbolic consumption as when individuals gladly pay a premium for how others will perceive the brand they choose. Designer clothing by Gucci, shoes by Air Jordan or a Porsche that can go 180 miles are all examples of the desire to express one’s identity, values, interests, status, or style.

However, studies show consumers frequently exhibit a strong preference for services that involve a living person, rather than those performed by robots or AI. For instance, people overwhelming choose to be tattooed by human (however, there’s no such preference for having a tattoo removed). Similarly, while a massage chair provides comfort, people overwhelming prefer experiencing the touch of skilled hands.

NMS pros can leverage the power of human touch to establish profound connections with individuals by actionably connecting them with subtleties of their unique body, especially in the realms of functionally strengthening posture and motion.

The experience of performing a seemingly simple exercise can become a fusion of language and touch, motion and even emotion. Especially when performed with conscious somatic awareness (aka interoceptive awareness, or internal awareness of your body), focused motor control exercises (MCE, such as Tai Chi, Yoga and StrongPosture®) can communicate symbolic ideas related to a person’s uniqueness as an individual. Plus, when progressively sequenced to their functional ability, MCEs strengthen the sense of personal agency.

Role of NMS Pros: Relief & Reassurance to Empowerment

For people in pain, temporary relief is a good respite. Reassurance from a professional can offer short-term comfort to mind and body. However, true healers understand it’s ultimately futile to rely on quick relief. NMS professionals bear the obligation to not only to provide temporary relief and reassurance, but also to engage patients in strategies for self-care, prevention, and long-term resilience.

Shifting rehab practices towards fostering subtle awareness and more accurate-to-reality somatic control cultivates a heightened sense of interoceptive motion control. Connecting language with awareness of subtle motions also heightens interoceptive body awareness. This kind of approach is increasingly seen to transcend temporary pain relief.

Somatic Care for Humans in a Tech Society

Going forward, NMS professionals can and should empower patients to be more mindful of their everyday actions and movements. Strategies that progressively and noticeably help patients improve control and symmetry in how they stand, sit and move can shift biomechanics and even mindsets in meaningful and sustainable ways.

Aspirations can become rungs of ladder to recognize a person’s unique experiences and challenges. Effective communication plays a pivotal role in connecting with patients, empowering them to take action and explore what their body can actually do, and do well.

By bridging the gap between words and actionable deeds, NMS pros can better tailor their approaches to suit each individual’s unique capacities, needs and aspirations. Systematically expanding awareness and control of subtle motions creates a positive spiral of success and personal agency, fueling compliance and motivation for behavioral changes.

As AI and robots continue their rapid integration into life, economists predict an increased recognition of “the special value of human labor”. In a world where artificial intelligence and automation pose challenges for everyone, the human touch will remain highly valued by patients and consumers, especially in contexts that embrace symbolism of our own uniqueness.

The Pivot Point

Researchers anticipate that as machines become more accepted by consumers, the unique actions of another human will contribute significantly to their own feelings of uniqueness. It is not solely the tangible output that people appreciate, but also the emotional connection and personalization when they are the focus of another person’s efforts.

NMS Role for Humans in a Tech Society

Neuromusculoskeletal professionals have an exceptional opportunity to emphasize their role as healers. By aligning conceptual symbols with proprioceptive perceptions, we can tell the story of standing taller and stronger to move better, for longer. To fill this role, NMS pros must strive to be true healers, people who connect with each individual with actionable plans for short and long-term behaviors tailored to that individual’s unique physicality, environments and lifehabits.

Through the power of touch, we can leverage symbols, stories, and actions to establish profound connections and empower individuals to optimize health. By beginning with how they stand and move, and delivering the experience of improved awareness and control of subtle body functions we can empower each individual to stand taller and move stronger…in every move they make.