ABSTRACT

This chapter serves as an introduction to this book, The Digital Transformation of Labor: Automation, the Gig Economy and Welfare. The chapter starts by introducing the technological advancements throughout the past couple of centuries and proceeds to identify contemporary concepts such as “AI”, “digitization”, “digitalization”, and “digital transformation” etc. Three themes are identified under which each chapter contributions are grouped. There are: “Practical Utilization of New Technologies”, “The Role of the Digital Welfare State”, and “Digital Disruption of Status Quo”. The chapter concludes by presenting each contributing chapter appearing in this book volume with a short introductory synopsis.