Is the future of work being built for man or machine?

Since the release of ChatGPT, much of the discussion about the future of work has focused on AI's technological capabilities and the potential impact they might have on the workplace.

A recent special edition from Cambridge's Judge Business School aims to adopt a broader perspective on the future of work to ensure that humans remain in the conversation.

“Human imagination is boundless, so why constrain it to technology? Surely, technology is important to how workplaces evolve, but so are new ways of collaborating, of enhancing wellbeing, and of spurring innovation through human diversity," the researchers explain.

"And, by better understanding how humans interact with technological changes rather than only on how tech interacts with people, we can lay the groundwork to accelerate the adoption of helpful and elevating new technologies for the benefit of people.”

Historical myths

This should perhaps be no surprise, as the authors point out that much of human history is actually defined by our technological progress, from Prometheus to the Industrial Revolution. This perspective tends to view change as something that technology does to people, however, rather than placing humans at the heart of the change.

The researchers argue that a better approach is to explore how we engage with new technologies and how we engage with each other to get work done. After all, the end goal of any technology should be to improve people's lives.

As such, they suggest we should try to move the discussion around the future of work away from being passive observers of the future to active participants in its creation.

A flexible future

The special edition features articles from various sources to explore different aspects of the future of work. For instance, academics from KU Leuven, BI Norwegian Business School, IESEG School of Management, and Esade argue that the “future of work” is not a fixed outcome but a collection of competing stories about what work could or should become.

Instead of focusing on predictions, they suggest researchers should explore “imaginaries” that reflect different ways of thinking about the future. This, they say, would help move beyond overly rigid ideas about where work is heading.

A study from the University of St Gallen looks at two trends shaping workplaces: the rise of remote work and the push for inclusion, authenticity, and belonging in diverse teams. The findings are mixed. Remote work often gives employees more freedom to be themselves and feel connected to others. But as remote work increases, individual workers may feel less of a sense of belonging. The challenge for leaders will be to balance these effects as work continues to evolve.

“What we are essentially advocating is that we as scholars, and society more broadly, look beyond technological change to focus on how human factors including, for example, our emotions will reshape work practices as we move further into the 21st century.”

Research from BI Norwegian Business School and EBS in Germany examines the role of "voice" for gig workers on digital platforms. Voice – the ability to influence decisions – is vital for workers, and in the gig economy, it often takes shape in online communities.

The study finds that these communities are not just spaces for collaboration but also arenas for status signaling. Workers use these signals to form factions, which tend to amplify the views of in-group members while sidelining those outside the group.

A study from the University of Toronto explores how tech developers influence workplace technologies and the balance of power between users and managers. The researchers focus on third-party developers who mediate between managers and manufacturing workers.

By aligning the interests of both groups, encoding worker preferences into prototypes, and resisting managerial pushback against certain features, developers shape how new tools are used. The paper highlights the significant power developers wield in shaping workplace dynamics and calls for more research into their role in both design and management.

Shaping the future

The editors believe that the articles in the special report highlight the various human qualities that are important in ensuring that the future of work is not merely defined by technology but by us humans.

“What we are essentially advocating is that we as scholars, and society more broadly, look beyond technological change to focus on how human factors including, for example, our emotions will reshape work practices as we move further into the 21st century,” they conclude.

“We also need to look at basic human needs such as belongingness, and how these needs evolve in relation to the use of technology by organizations. Related to this, how do organizations approach worker skill development given the need to recruit both high-tech and low-tech talent, and what do members of these different talent pools think about their own career trajectories in an increasingly technological era?”