Automation and the Future of Work

160 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2021 by Verso Books.

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4 stars (1 review)

Silicon Valley titans, politicians, techno-futurists and social critics have united in arguing that we are living on the cusp of an era of rapid technological automation, heralding the end of work as we know it. But does the much-discussed 'rise of the robots' really explain the jobs crisis that awaits us on the other side of the coronavirus? In Automation and the Future of Work, Aaron Benanav uncovers the structural economic trends that will shape our working lives far into the future. What social movements, he asks, are required to propel us into post-scarcity, if technological innovation alone can’t deliver it? In response to calls for a universal basic income that would maintain a growing army of redundant workers, he offers a counter-proposal.

2 editions

marxists on the machine

4 stars

just finished this book today. pretty decent and the take was a bit more nuance than i was expecting. Generally I think of this author is the luxury space communism camp, and very much like: communism creates innovation, innovation frees us from work, we all get Rolexes. presented in the marxist does economics way, there is arguments presented from the right and left side of a full-automation perspective (more technology, machines, robots, AI than just AI). anti-tech arguments aren't really explored but he tries to poke holes in the idea that work will be eliminated or made obsolete and this will lead to downtime or communism. His larger argument is that surplus labour and declining employment and automation/production are not linked as we are often presented by economics and politicians and that capitalism is making people obsolete, not technology specifically.

not trying to make the arguments here just present them. …