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Editorial
AI and the Future of Work
This edition of Crucible on the subject of artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of work brings together the old and the new. Work has been with us from the beginning of time, an inevitable, inescapable part of life for human beings down the centuries, and a central means by which we have ordered our societies. Into this ancient, varied, highly adaptive form of human practice comes AI, an umbrella term for a wide variety of technologies. Many of these technologies are being used in workplace management – such as hiring, task allocation and workforce monitoring – and in programmes designed to enhance productivity and efficient documentation. The House of Commons Library, which provides policy briefings for parliamentarians, notes that whilst AI offers ‘much potential’, the use of these technologies ‘has also proved controversial and raised some important legal questions’ (House of Commons 2023). AI describes how computer systems can imitate, and perform at scale, speed and (increasingly) with skill, tasks and outputs which have typically required human involvement. We may see this as the inevitable culmination of the information technology revolution of the post-war years which brought with it digital computing and the world wide web. However, the rapid pace of change through AI shows no sign of abating; we may not have even scratched the surface. Indeed, the fourth industrial revolution can be seen in everything from the rapid development of generative AI, with its ability – when prompted – to produce text, images and sounds which mimic human creativity, to major advancements in sectors such as healthcare, science and manufacturing. Almost every aspect of our lives is subject to disruption and development as a result.
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