Automation and the Future of Work

Abstract

Advances in automation threaten to radically alter the workplace of the future. What implications does this have for the ethics of work? For better or worse, work plays a central role in distributing goods to people in the modern world. This includes the good of income, of course, but it also includes meaning-related goods such as a sense of purpose, mastery over some skill set, social contribution, and social status. Will automation rob large numbers of people of these goods too? What can be done to compensate them for these losses? Reviewing the possibilities, this chapter ultimately argues that the best way to mitigate these losses might be to transition to a post-work society.