It seems like every day there’s an article or story published about the coming of the AI bots — software-infused things that will automate away the jobs done by people today. Last year the White House issued a report on automation trends. Truck drivers, toll booth workers, even accountants are all on borrowed time before being replaced by a new kind of unbeatable colleague — a robot/computer.
If you think I’m exaggerating, listen to Stephen Hawking:
The automation of factories has already decimated jobs in traditional manufacturing, and the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend this job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining.
Hawking argues that anxiety about the elimination of the human workforce fuels the anti-elite sentiment that gave rise to Brexit and President-elect Trump. I’m not primarily concerned about the political impacts of automation (although Hawking brings up very valid points); rather I believe that work in and of itself provides benefits to people and to society that go far beyond its economic value.
Perhaps in response to the impending automation apocalypse, there’s a renewed focus on why work is meaningful and important (above and beyond the need for fiscal independence). While some scholars are skeptical automation reduces labor opportunity, Stephanie Pincetl and a host of others are examining why and how we should keep working, even if in some future time we won’t have to.
Work fosters community
Being part of a community is vital to our well-being and there is no better way to create a community than to work towards common ends together. A workplace — whether in the public, private or non-profit sector — provides a community. While our family and close friends are our primary community, they need not be our only one.
Work also introduces us to people we might not ordinarily meet, individuals from different backgrounds and life circumstances. Schools facilitate the same kind of interaction for young people. (This is true at least in theory, in reality de-facto segregation and a host of systemic policies mean schools remain troublingly segregated as do many of the highest paying jobs.)
The difference between a workplace and a leisure activity, like adult kickball or a knitting group, is that your leisure activity ‘colleagues’ are based on affinity. Your coworkers come with a range of ages, abilities and interests, your knitting group is made up of knitters only.
In a career that’s spanned a decade and a half, I’ve been lucky enough to take two extended sabbaticals from formal work. Although I’ve used this time to further personal career goals and achievements (anyone want to read my novel?) I’ve come back from each break absolutely chomping at the bit to get back to a more formal work environment —because I missed having colleagues.
Work provides challenge
Self-esteem doesn’t come from endless praise or positive thinking — it’s earned from the ground up. Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth have done amazing research on the “growth mindset” and grit, respectively. The challenges we encounter — and overcome — at work help give a sense of accomplishment and meaning to our days. These accomplishments don’t have to mean huge promotions (or any job change at all), but can be as simple as learning a new skill (like Excel or SQL), completing a task, or giving a presentation.
During school, this sense of accomplishment is explicitly choreographed for us: we take tests, turn in homework, complete courses and grades. People cry and travel long distances for and celebrate during graduation ceremonies because of the accomplishment involved in earning a diploma. In our adult lives, outside of the world of work, there is no equivalent measurement for our accomplishments. And while it can be problematic to base our self-worth on raises or promotions (external approval), celebrating our individual and team achievement is something different. I would argue the boom of obstacle courses, Tough Mudders, and Ironmans is driven by people seeking to create some sense of growth through challenge in their lives — the kind of growth that comes with good work.
What is good work?
Good work is rewarding and just the right amount of stressful. Work is like Goldilocks’ porridge — we need it to be just right to be nourishing. Too much work and you get the toxic, ‘always on’ culture that leads to burnout. Too little work creates its own problems (boredom is a underrated source of stress).
What really matters to our wellbeing is the nature of our work — having autonomy over our days, making a measurable, positive impact and the pride that comes with providing for ourselves and our loved ones.
To be clear, I’m not arguing for the kind of work that often manifests in a consumer-based, unbalanced economy, where people must work to live and find themselves stuck in jobs they hate or in toxic workplace environments and living paycheck to paycheck. Critical building blocks for a functioning labor market (for humans, at least!) include the equitable distribution of opportunity, healthy competition, access to health care, and a strong safety net. The stereotypical workplace — the stifling rules, rigid caste system and meaningless busywork adroitly pilloried in Office Space — shouldn’t blind us to the power and potential of what work means in our lives.
Automation can get us there by getting rid of the busywork, freeing up humans for the creative, rewarding work that comes from helping other people and meeting and overcoming challenges together. That’s what we’re focused on at CityGrows, finding a way to minimize the drudgery of public sector work to enable government staff to get back to the important stuff — serving the needs of their communities. We’ve created CityGrows to allow people to spend less time answering anxious phone calls and sending pestering emails, so they can focus on more productive accomplishments.
As a society, we aren’t ready for a work-free world. As a species, we may never be — at least not without some fundamental evolution into how our brains are wired.
