ABSTRACT
This chapter traces how the future of work is imagined in popular books. The chapter shows how sociotechnical imaginaries constructed in the books rely on the interplay between utopian and dystopian visions of the future. In the context of the future of work, this plays out in relation to automation, where humans are replaced by machines, and augmentation, where humans and machines collaborate. The man-versus-machine trope is deployed in the books to suggest that jobs previously done by humans are at risk of being replaced by machines. Some books also discuss the idea that humans and machines will augment each other’s skills, which is referenced as ‘new diversity’. The chapter shows that jobs that are at risk of automation are perceived to be largely held by men. Particularly white-collar professional jobs are constructed as at risk of automation but women’s presence in those jobs is not mentioned. Gender was discussed in relation to who designs technologies and how technology designs are gendered. Algorithmic bias was also regularly discussed in the books. The chapter shows how the future of work is imagined as oscillating between automation and augmentation and what this means for gender.
