Abstract

This chapter focuses the future of work as it relates to automation, artificial intelligence, the gig economy, and the technologies that will emerge from the so-called “fourth industrial revolution.” The goal here is to analyze the ways in which our modern capitalist economy drives technological development and the ownership structures which are built into our economic and technological relations. Our current ownership structures point to a future of “precariatized” labor, leading to less stable, more automated and more deskilled labor. What this chapter therefore seeks to do is provide an overview of the present predictions concerning the future of work – the likelihood of job automation, the types of jobs that will remain, the skills future workers will need to develop, etc. Furthermore, this chapter also attempts to outline a social theory for the future of work, specifically one which prioritizes the concept of ownership as a necessary component of the future of work. What is ultimately suggested is that, given the current capitalist economy and predictions about the future of work, any post-capitalist vision for the future of work ought to prioritize new forms of ownership, including work ownership, technological ownership, and information ownership.