for their assistance in preparing these remarks. I would also like to thank Will Abel, Andy Haldane, Carsten Jung, Rana Sajedi and Greg Thwaites for the background research and analysis they conducted.
This study compares the dominant narratives on the future of work. It shows that a paradigm shift is underway in the context of scenario analysis, as a consequence of the impetuous development of robotic and computer technologies. Near the two main traditions of thought, which respectively emphasize ‘technological unemployment’ and ‘compensation,’ a third vision of the future is emerging that examines trends and scenarios ignored by traditional economic theories. This third narrative places particular emphasis on the ‘hollowing out’ phenomenon. It states that automation will not cause the complete disappearance of work, but only of the average qualified one. In other words, in the absence of corrective interventions, the society of the future will be characterized by the presence of a minority of privileged citizens, who will be able to fully enjoy the fruits of automation, surrounded by a majority of citizens engaged in precarious and degrading jobs. This study shows that the third narrative is only relatively new. Socio-technical expectations went full circle, reviving a prognosis already present in Karl Marx’s works.
In this article I explore the most recent literature on social robotics and argue that the field of robotics is evolving in a direction that will soon require a systematic collaboration between engineers and sociologists. After discussing several problems relating to social robotics, I emphasize that two key concepts in this research area are scenario and persona. These are already popular as design tools in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and an approach based on them is now being adopted in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). As robots become more and more sophisticated, engineers will need the help of trained sociologists and psychologists in order to create personas and scenarios and to “teach” humanoids how to behave in various circumstances.
In recent years a debate has developed over the ties between Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas and transhumanism. This article clarifies some issues at the meta-level of the discussion. Firstly, the author provides a scientometric analysis of research trends to show the relevance of the topic. Secondly, he distinguishes between two analytical perspectives, which he calls ‘noumenal’ and ‘phenomenal.’ Thirdly, by taking the phenomenal perspective, the author shows that transhumanism can be classified into four different categories, namely: quasi-Nietzschean, Nietzschean, a-Nietzschean, and anti-Nietzschean. Finally, he provides historical examples of each single type of transhumanism. This way, the article also contributes to the history of transhumanist thought.
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