Many Proposals, Few Resources: Difficult Choices for the Future of Labour

An unprecedented wave of innovation is sweeping through the world of work. There are different views on how to deal with it. According to the most optimistic one, technological innovation—as it has happened throughout history—will open new cycles of development with positive consequences on employment. In the more pessimistic view, human labour will be largely replaced by machines. In the first case, the main challenge is to manage the transition. The second scenario is more complex and several alternative paths emerge. Setting aside the Luddite choice of stopping the rise of machines, some believe it is inevitable (even desirable) to delegate work to robots and increase free time for humans. At the other extreme, others argue that the state should guarantee everyone an occupation. There is a third path: accepting the challenge of an intelligent coexistence between humans and machines, harnessing technological innovations to improve workers’ performance. The idea is that humans can create more value by interacting with machines than by working without technology or by letting machines operate on their own. In this scenario, technology allows workers to focus on those tasks within each profession that generate added value, usually based on skills that are difficult to mechanize such as empathy, creativity, decision-making and interaction. The way forward is tortuous but still depends largely on humans and their choices.