Massage Therapy Journal Winter 2025

Winter 2025 • 31

Now add intelligence to the equation. We are using AI to analyze each person’s body to best deliver a massage that is right for them . There is nothing cold about feeling good, and our massages feel really good! Some massage therapists have very real fears around being replaced by robots: “I’m not so sure of the motive behind the creation of AI massage tables. They say it’s not to replace massage therapists, however, that’s exactly what is happening. In actuality, humans cannot be replaced. A machine could never do what we as humans can do. Maybe there is a place for this invention somewhere, maybe if there is just no other option one would have no choice but to settle. Otherwise, an actual person is always best.” —DARLA THOMAS “Our industry is getting to the point where businesses want to raise prices but don’t want to raise wages. This will serve as a way to justify and normalize keeping our wages down. There is more demand for massage, but not every massage therapist is fully booked. With the various platforms, from private practices to huge spas, clients have a ton of options. This AI will take a percentage of that billion dollar industry and put it in the hands of business people, leaving aging or part-time therapists with little work, or remove enough of the market that a full time 32–60 hour week therapist will have to go get a second job to supplement

As a massage therapist and CE educator for more than 25 years, I am a believer in integration of emerging technology where and when it makes sense. AI robotic massage makes sense for the consumer of the future, and the time is now for integration. If we look at the chiropractic and acupuncture client-experience models, these practitioners see more than one client per hour. The massage therapist of the future may innovate a whole new model, which might involve doing a thorough intake with a client then letting the first 20 minutes of the session be lead by the AI robotic experience. During this time, they could move into an intake with another client before rejoining the initial client to perform 30 minutes of hands-on work, repeating this process throughout their day where appropriate. Essentially, this would greatly expand the reach in their community, as well as increase their compensation with the same amount of physical output. With current research showing over 40% of therapists leaving the profession within the first two years due to physical concerns, there is a place for much of the labor intensive, hands-on massage work to be outsourced to robotics . So, it’s not a matter of massage therapists being replaced, but rather some of the workload being offloaded safely and effectively to robotics and, in the process, potentially redefining how a therapeutic massage practice operates. Nunez: I have always been dedicated to the massage community, and these massage treatments that we have developed are not void of human touch. Massage therapists help create the massages, develop how they feel, what to address, and are extremely collaborative in nature. So while automated, they could not exist without massage therapist input. To think where we will go in the future as we develop more and more content in conjunction with the massage community is very exciting. Aescape is also dedicated to the massage community, so much so that we created our own Research & Development team that has

40% of massage therapists leave the profession within the first two years.

their income. ” —ANONYMOUS Stephenson and Nunez respond:

Stephenson: If we pull that thread through and unpack it, every industry under the sun has been impacted by technology and traditional means of delivery have been disrupted. Any and every industry has had to grapple with the concept of professionals/practitioners being “replaced.”

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