ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Bernard Stiegler's view of the automated society. The big picture for 'automatic society' suggests a mix of Andre Gorz' and Stiegler's visions of the future. Some jobs will be substituted. Others will be augmented, offering the possibility of an 'otium of the people', whereby leisure, work, recreation and retirement are far more integrated. One of the main issues drawn out in the chapter, on the automated society, is the extent to which human-machine interactions will result in liberating work, increasing leisure and emancipating people for their relationships and caring for one another. In a contributory economy founded on a contributory income, otium must be cultivated at all stages of life, and such a culture is clearly a form of work – given that any activity, Energeia is a transformation of oneself.
