Post-work society

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In futurology, political science, and science fiction, a post-work society is a society in which the nature of work has been radically transformed and traditional employment has largely become obsolete due to technological progress.^[1]

Some post-work theorists imagine the complete automation of all jobs, or at least the takeover of all monotonous, rule-based, predictable and repetitive (and thus unworthy of humans) tasks in the future by ultimately cheaper, faster, more efficient, more reliable and more accurate intelligent machines.^[2][3] Additionally, these machines can work in harsher conditions and for longer periods of time without stopping than humans,^[4] which is expected to eventually lead to massive economic growth, despite high rates of ever-increasing human unemployment.^[5] Overall, this development would lead to an enormous increase in prosperity, whereby it would be the task of politics to distribute this wealth evenly within the population.^[6][7]

Future directions include the reshaping of the human role in the workplace, stressing the relative strengths of humans capable of adapting and integrating technology into their work and interaction.^[8] In addition to these capabilities, scholars emphasize the importance of humans taking advantage of these relative strengths, offering several areas which humans can remain competent in a rapidly developing workplace. These include emotional intelligence, service orientation, resource management skills, communication skills, and entrepreneurship skills.^[9]

Scholarly literature defines such areas where machines may surpass humans as "task encroachment".^[10] "Task Encroachment" presents an issue of growing encroachment of AI and automation into human work, especially in manual and cognitive tasks. It is estimated that approximately 40% of all working hours will be affected by AI models.^[11] In a post-work society, such issues imply that humanity must pivot towards roles that require emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, areas where machines still lag behind. To adapt, humanity should focus on cultivating these uniquely human attributes while societal structures might need to reconsider the value and distribution of work, possibly reducing the reliance on traditional employment as a means of livelihood.

As the nature of work evolves, scholars are examining not only the shifting skill requirements but also the potential need to redefine the purpose and structure of labor itself. Beyond emotional intelligence and service orientation, Bianchini and Maffei ^[12] (2020) argue that design-oriented thinking—focused on adaptability and innovation—is crucial for humans to maintain a role in increasingly automated workplaces. This focus on problem-solving aligns with the idea that humans will become "designers" who bridge the gap between technology and human interaction, allowing workers to apply creativity and adaptability in ways that machines cannot.

In addition, research by Frey and Osborne ^[13] and Deming (2017)^[14] emphasizes the value of interpersonal and "soft" skills as automation advances. Since social skills are less likely to be automated, they offer one of the strongest avenues for sustaining human employment. However, scholars warn that technological advances in affective computing and other AI-driven fields, such as education and healthcare, may eventually challenge even these uniquely human domains, pushing society to reconsider the fundamental structure of work. Lin et al. (2016) illustrate the potential for AI to support or even perform tasks that involve emotional responses, such as teaching or caregiving, raising ethical questions about where AI should be permitted to operate.^[15]

Other theories of a post-work society focus more on challenging the priority of the work ethic, and on the celebration of nonwork activities.^[16] These theories also underscore the importance of developing community-based activities and self-improvement programs to fill the void left by traditional labor structures.

Near-term practical proposals closely associated with post-work theory include the implementation of a universal basic income,^[17] as well as the reduction of the length of a working day and the number of days of a working week. Increased focus on what post-work society would look like has been driven by reports such as one that states 47% of jobs in the United States could be automated.^[13] Because of increasing automation and the low price of maintaining an automated workforce compared to one dependent on human labor, it has been suggested that post-work societies would also be ones of post-scarcity.^[18][19]

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The shift towards a society where AI is at the forefront of the workforce creates serious concern regarding ethics and how the government should regulate its power. As technology will take the roles traditionally held by humans, we must ensure that AI development aligns with societal values, fairness, and equity. Large businesses and governments across the world are tasked with being responsible for data privacy, economic stability, and general well-being throughout this new, and widely unknown era. Without proper regulation, a post-work society risks perpetuating inequality, which could possibly establish a "technological elite" status, giving this class a disproportionate power over economic resources and overall information. AI will also exacerbate the divide between the rich and the poor, creating new barriers among societies. This stems from disparities in access to computational power and high energy demands that are inherent with contemporary AI technologies. It is reported that “GPT-3, OpenAI’s 175 billion parameter model, reportedly used 1,287 MWh to train, while DeepMind’s 280 billion parameter model used 1,066 MWh. This is about 100 times the energy used by the average US household in a year” (Lesiv 2024).^[20] Naturally, very few can afford to spend such vast resources on training AI models, especially in developing countries where there are significantly more pressing priorities. As such, there are concerns that monopolies could potentially be created, with a select few corporations having the capital necessary for building these technologies, and a select few groups of people having the funds to afford using them. The International Monetary Fund elaborates that this could vastly improve productivity in certain nations, while the rest of the globe is left behind, essentially making the rich richer and the poor poorer (Alonso et al. 2020). In order to maintain societal well-being while upholding rights, global cooperation is a requirement. Establishing AI literacy programs at various education levels may support a workforce better equipped to understand and coexist with advanced technologies.

The governance of AI is closely connected to the social and cultural implications of a post-work society as well. As AI continues to take over jobs, people are beginning to lose a sense of identity and purpose on a day-today basis. In a world where careers and determination are no longer top priorities, some may simply not find a meaning in life anymore. Similar concerns raise questions about the role of government intervention and regulation. Some theorists propose that redefining societal values—emphasizing creativity, leisure, and community engagement—could help alleviate the potential loss of meaning for individuals. New laws must go beyond the surface level regulatory policies and extend to the ways of which AI will affect our society. Without careful oversight, we could create a society where the few elites are the only ones who get the reap the benefits, furthering current socio-economic divides.

• Kathi Weeks: The problem with work: feminism, Marxism, antiwork politics and postwork imaginaries, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8223-5112-2
• Daniel Susskind: WORLD WITHOUT WORK: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond, 2020, ISBN 9781250173515
• Stanley Aranowitz : Post-Work, 1998, ISBN 9780415917834
• Serge Latouche : Travailler moins, travailler autrement, ou ne pas travailler du tout, 2021, ISBN 9782743653729

• Critique of work
• Four-day workweek
• In Praise of Idleness
• Humans Need Not Apply
• Imagination age
• Post-capitalism
• Refusal of work
• Tang ping ("lying flat")
• Technological utopianism
• Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work
• The End of Work
• The Future of Work and Death
• Workism