Image of synthetic baby crowning from a birthing robot (Laerdal Medical birthing video)

Several weeks ago, I presented some of my latest research at the 2025 Summit of the International Society for the Study of Information (IS4SI) with the paper “Pregnant Robots, Birth Simulators, Artificial Wombs, and Soul Machines: AI and the Emerging Social Ontologies & Technologies in the Delivery Room.” The way AI is being used in the contexts of pregnancy and birth is getting very wild. Although much of the paper looked at various forms of technology and did not concern the matter of visualization and birth, I devoted a segment to that topic.

In the case of the pregnant robots, they could be used to help real pregnant women visualize and understand how birth works and how they might give birth themselves. Some studies have shown that mental visualization, sometimes facilitated by looking at a real world object, can have a positive impact on actions and activities in the real world (for example, when a pregnant woman looks at a picture of a flower opening and it helps her to visualize how her cervix opens, which in turn helps the physiological process of the opening take place). My previous research has shown that mental practice of a physical exercise often results in similar organization of the brain’s circuitry as occurs during the correlating physical exercises.

I have for years explored how visualization can be used in a positive way for birth. For pregnant women who see the robot give birth, this may help them both to envision and then actualize birth with their own bodies. For practitioners, the robot gives them the opportunity both to visualize and actualize different birth scenarios and practice how to best serve the pregnant woman in those scenarios. In this case, the rite of passages of both giving birth oneself and helping someone during the delivery process are transformed in a positive way through the incorporation of AI technology and visualization.

My paper also discussed negative ways in which the use of this technology could impact birth as a rite of passage. It is too early to tell right now how our birth culture could change due to the technology.

Below is the IS4SI conference poster on which my presentation is mentioned.