The Future of Work in the Age of Automation: Proceedings of a Workshop on Norbert Wiener’s 21st Century Legacy

Heather Love, Greg Adamson, Mallory James, Jason Lajoie, Iven Mareels, Zach Pearl, Daniel Schiff, Ketra Schmitt, Thirumala Arohi, John Buchanan, Stéphanie Camaréna, Marten Kaevats, Jeremy Reynolds, Pedro Albuquerque, John Havens, Davis Chacón-Hurtado, Sucheta Lahiri, Ayse Ocal, Alexi Orchard, Michael Rigby, Rebecca Sherlock, Victor Sundararaj and Qin Zhu
Additional contact information
Heather Love: University of Waterloo [Waterloo]
Greg Adamson: Melbourne School of Population and Global Health [Melbourne] - University of Melbourne
Mallory James: Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Center Munich - Institute of Environmental Medicine - WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste [Bad Honnef]
Iven Mareels: Federation University [Churchill, Australia]
Zach Pearl: York University [Toronto]
Daniel Schiff: Purdue University [West Lafayette]
Ketra Schmitt: Concordia University [Montreal]
Thirumala Arohi: Infosys Labs [Bangalore]
John Buchanan: SDSU - San Diego State University, The University of Sidney
Stéphanie Camaréna: Victoria University [Melbourne]
Jeremy Reynolds: Purdue University [West Lafayette]
Pedro Albuquerque: AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AMU - Aix Marseille Université
Davis Chacón-Hurtado: UCONN - University of Connecticut
Sucheta Lahiri: iSchool - Syracuse University School of Information Studies
Ayse Ocal: YTU - Yildiz Technical University
Alexi Orchard: UND - University of Notre Dame [Indiana]
Michael Rigby: MVS - Melbourne Veterinary School [Parkville, VIC, Australie] - Faculty of Science [Melbourne] - University of Melbourne
Rebecca Sherlock: University of Waterloo [Waterloo]
Victor Sundararaj: Infosys Labs [Bangalore]
Qin Zhu: Virginia Tech [Blacksburg]

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Abstract: This article synthesizes the insights gained through presentations and discussions at the 2023 IEEE Workshop on Norbert Wiener in the 21st Century (21CW2023), which focused on "The Future of Work in the Age of Automation." Hosted at Purdue University, this interdisciplinary convening of technologists, social scientists, and humanists explored the impacts of automation on labor, drawing on Wiener's legacy of insights as a backdrop to examine the technologically mediated future we face in coming decades. The workshop presented a rare opportunity to reflect critically on these issues at a pivotal moment in human and technological history, and to elicit underappreciated dimensions. Areas of focus include: the qualitative and quantitative losses associated with automation and AI, the impacts automation has for questions about the meaningfulness of work, the challenges we face related to uncertainty and lack of predictability in technological advancement, and the opportunities that exist for centering human values and agency in these conversations. While acknowledging many items for concern in the context of automation in the future of work, such as the domination of economic narratives, a potential loss of qualitative texture, and the neglect of certain issues key to human identity, the authors conclude by offering optimistic visions—or calls—for redefining value and labor, preserving human agency, and embracing creative problem-solving.

Keywords: limits of predictability; Conferences; Automation; Ethics; Cybernetics; Industries; Technological innovation; Social sciences; Oral communication; IEEE Societies; Heating systems; Future of work; automation; Norbert Wiener; cybernetics; technology ethics; artificial intelligence; meaning of work; ethical innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-mac
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04890264v1
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Published in IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society, 2024, pp.1-23. ⟨10.1109/tts.2024.3476041⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04890264

DOI: 10.1109/tts.2024.3476041

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