By Sharon Simpon
Labour Community Services is engaged in examining the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation on workers. The research done thus far, was presented at a panel discussion on March 23, 2026, at York University’s Global Labour Research Center (GLRC).
Current AI development and deployment have moved rapidly often resulting in serious contemplation of the number and types of jobs that will be available to job seekers. This contemplation however begs a more fundamental question as to whether or not the current economic model is sustainable in the AI digital era.
Throughout history, humanity has undergone several major societal transitions — from hunter‑gatherer to agriculture, from agriculture to cottage industry, and eventually to industrialization. Each of these past time periods held a promise of economic opportunities for advancement for the average worker. Now, steeped in the digital era of AI, another major societal transition is unfolding. Yet, unlike past transitions, this transition’s promise of economic opportunities for advancement seems to be embedded in a reality of regression. Advancements being made seem to be confined to what human-driven functions technology can take over, while regression seems to occupy the space of mental and physical de-skilling of people, who were once anticipated to fulfill functions now done or predicted to be done by AI.
As the advancement and regression creep continues, employers are encouraged to adopt AI/automaton to take over repetitive tasks being done by people. As this unfolds, there is little, to no, discussion, on what happens when people who anticipate doing tasks as an exchange of their labour for pay (and using that pay to meet their basic survival needs for food, shelter), and when technology can no longer do so. While there may be no turning back the clock on technological advancements, its implementation is not set in stone.