Artificial Intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences

TL;DR

This paper critically reviews recent social science research on AI's impact on work, covering topics like unemployment, algorithmic management, and platform work, highlighting disciplinary perspectives and influencing economic parameters.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of recent social science discussions on AI and work, emphasizing key perspectives and challenges in predicting AI's future impact.

Findings

Identifies major disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Highlights the influence of capitalist and nationalistic pressures.

Discusses obstacles in predicting AI's impact on work.

Abstract

This review seeks to present a comprehensive picture of recent discussions in the social sciences of the anticipated impact of AI on the world of work. Issues covered include technological unemployment, algorithmic management, platform work an the politics of AI work. The review identifies the major disciplinary and methodological perspectives on AI's impact on work, and the obstacles they face in making predictions. Two parameters influencing the development and deployment of AI in the economy are highlighted, the capitalist imperative and nationalistic pressures.