UTS BCII students envision the Future of Work

The debate surrounding the Future of Work, often so fraught with anxiety, can make it difficult to imagine alternative outlooks when surrounded by the 'doom and gloom' scenarios of 'robots coming to take jobs'.

In the Envisioning Futures subject, BCII Fourth Year students from the UTS TD School were tasked with designing and showcasing an audience encounter around the 'Future of Work'.

Thinking about the future is fundamentally important for dealing with the challenges of today and the exhibit aimed to provoke audiences to question the desirability of future work scenarios.

The subject integrates 'Futures Thinking' methods that project the hopes, problems and anxieties we face today into a wider context and future timeframe. The methods are used to stimulate strategic dialogue and inform decision-making.  

In a rapidly changing super complex world, it is impossible to predict the future just by extrapolating past trends. There is a desperate need for imagination and creative approaches to thinking about futures that we all wish to live in.

Envisioning Futures subject co-coordinator Giedre Kligyte

Students presented a-utopic experiential scenarios to industry and community members. The showcase delivered commentary and a creative slant on the debate, as well as ideas that could have rigour and application in the real world. 

"Students' responses to the brief exceeded our wildest expectations – from getting paid in social impact points, to a cognitive enhancement 'rehab' and planning flexible work hours to fit personal preferences" said subject co-coordinator Susie Pratt.

The team of students from Oracle Analytica, an AI lead tech company from the future, needed to recruit humans to meet a government-enforced 'diversity' mandate, where companies have a human employee quota of 49%. Stepping into a separate office, visitors had to prove their performative value to a panel of hiring 'AIs' in a mock job interview.

The AI dominant workforce represented current trends towards efficiency for the sake of economic growth and 'progress', while the 'human quota' represented a counter-trend to protect human agency.

The scenario aimed to highlight the paradox between human fallibility, complexity and technological efficiency.

A participant from the group interview said it was an unnerving experience. Because we stayed in character, people could really feel like they were only being considered for grunt work.

Group member, Delayne Sternbeck-Rutter

BCII Fourth Year student, Sammy Hurwitz who is working with industry partner, Breville to explore the future of the kitchen said, "It's a situation of creating the future that you want. If you see where trends have emerged you can harness the positive attributes and redirect the negative ones, it's a speculative space that is great to delve into".

It is by thinking about the future in an open, experiential and collaborative way that helps expand our understanding of the type of world that we hope to live in.

"The BCII students have shown that the new generation of emerging transdisciplinary professionals are seeking positive societal change," said Giedre Kligyte. "They want to play an active role in creating a more just and sustainable future for us all".

Article written by Emily Mundzic