We are an international research programme dedicated to understanding the prospects for human augmentation, social inclusion and shared prosperity in the fourth industrial revolution.

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Global Report

What if AI is not creating better jobs than it destroys?

Completing our four years of research across 10+ global hubs, Digital Futures of Work Global Report reveals how dominant business strategies of cognitive capture using AI technologies are fragmenting knowledge work and accelerating the decline of the cognitive premium.

The result is job scarcity at the very level where education, aspiration, and innovation have converged—undermining mobility.

Yet this trajectory is not fixed. Across the hubs studied, the report also uncovers outlier value-creating firms that use AI for cognitive extension. These firms show that AI can augment human capability, not reduce it—and that such strategies hold greater promise for sustained productivity. But they remain on the margins—under-recognised and under-supported by most innovation ecosystems.

The future of work is still open. It will be shaped by the choices we make—and the models we choose to back.

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Digital Futures of Work: Reimagining Jobs, Skills and Education for the Digital Age

Phillip Brown, Sahara Sadik, Manuel Souto-Otero

This research programme seeks to advance a systematic evaluation of exactly how digital technologies will impact on skills, jobs and the wider economy by 2030 and beyond.

04 February, 2021
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Initial Thoughts on Policy Issues for the Future of Work

  Ewart Keep  

Current policy responses to the 4th Industrial Revolution vary. In light of growing concerns reg

04 February, 2021
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Technological Change and Labour Substitution: Can firm characteristics shield workers?

Manuel Souto-Otero, Simon Freebody, Phillip Brown

The article explores whether the introduction of technological change leading to changes in work processes has led to job reductions in a highly flexible labour market.

04 February, 2021

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