The future of iT work: Computers and people

Fred Niederman, Michelle Kaarst-Brown, Jeria Quesenberry, Tim Weitzel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemConference contribution

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The future of work is widely debated in terms of skills shortages, disappearing or emerging jobs, ongoing automation through artificial intelligence (AI), and what might happen if we do not have to work due to increased substitution of human with machine labor. Our goal is not to rehash these debates, but to reflect on them in terms of information technology (IT) work in particular. The purpose of thinking about the future is not to predict with precision or certainty what will happen. Rather the purpose is to sensitize us toward choosing pathways and taking actions that increase the probability of the futures we would prefer and decrease the probability of future states we would like to avoid. This paper considers a number of trends and reflects upon them from the dual, potentially conflicting perspectives of IT worker and of society. We close with our thoughts on convergence of both trends and impact, and potential implications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSIGMIS-CPR 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 Computers and People Research Conference
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages28-34
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781450360883
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 12 2019
Event56th Association of Computing Machinery Annual Computers and People Research Conference, ACM SIGMIS-CPR 2019 - Nashville, United States
Duration: Jun 20 2019Jun 22 2019

Publication series

NameSIGMIS-CPR 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 Computers and People Research Conference

Conference

Conference56th Association of Computing Machinery Annual Computers and People Research Conference, ACM SIGMIS-CPR 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNashville
Period6/20/196/22/19

Keywords

  • IT identity
  • IT professional
  • Role of IT professionals
  • Work

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Software

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