Ethical and Sustainable Future of Work

AHFE international, 2022

Digital technologies are reshaping behaviors and human interactions as well as having great impacts on the environmental, political and economic level. In the contemporary digital scenario, it becomes paramount for people to be able to adapt and unleash their full creative potential empowering a whole new set of skills, namely Digital Creative Abilities. Within the DC4DM European project, the aim of the paper is to introduce an operational framework built as part of the methodology used to identify the most important methods and tools to enhance the DCAs related to ethics, sustainability and futures thinking. Indeed, an ad hoc methodology was implemented in order to provide a systematic overview of the existing resources that could be useful to develop the competencies to design responsibly and sustainably with digital technologies and to envision futures possibilities.

Journal of Innovation & Knowledge

This research aims to present a synopsis of four eminent theoretical concepts that scholars have expended to help understand how digitalisation has changed the workplace as we used to know it. The research is based on a conceptual approach. It aims to critically synthesise the relevant literature as the principal methodology for analysing work in the selected four research domains where the perspective on digital work is most controversial. The study shows two central chronicles that have emerged due to workplace digitalisation-utopian and dystopian perspectives. The research sheds light on controversial discourses regarding changing nature of work in the digital era, particularly concerning work polarisation, non-standard employment, unemployment and platform work. The study also provides guidelines for change that help minimise the dark side and harm to the worker of digitalisation by developing appropriate capabilities for the new digital environment.

Energies, 2021

Remote and hybrid working models and accelerated digitalization of the human resources processes were introduced in most organizations worldwide as a consequence of the COVD-19 pandemic. This digital revolution at the workplace was forced by extraordinary circumstances, thus its impact had not been anticipated before. This motivated the authors to study the new work reality. The research was based on a hypothesis that the digitalization of work and the human resources processes, approaches organizations to the sustainable development ideal. Sustainability is here understood as maintaining a balance between economic, environmental, and social factors. The authors analyzed the impact between the digital processes and the way of working on the following areas: CO2 emissions, creating plastic waste, saving energy, creating a gender-diverse and inclusive workplace. To verify the hypothesis, the authors used their own original and desk research. The original research was conducted within ...

2018

Some of the current gaps, data and capacity building needs include: 1. Mapping the growth and experience of new working practices, work places and business models' demand for skills, and provision of job quality and job security in the digital age. 2. Identifying good quality quantitative and qualitative, longitudinal and internationally comparative data about the experiences of employers, employees, job seekers and those not engaged in the paid work. This could include Big Data methods combining existing surveys, social security and administrative data, establishment surveys, and new innovative and experimental methods. 3. Analysis of the consequences of digitisation for different groups of workers by ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic background, migration status and other intersectionalities. 4. Building on comparative measures of job quality, productivity and social innovation to include social health in a digital culture and wellbeing over the life course. 5. Understanding the combinations and portfolios of different types of work across the life course in formal, established, and informal and gig economy work. 6. Understanding how employee voice can be incorporated into new business models. 7. Provide a broad, historical and theoretical contextualisation of work including caring, unpaid and voluntary work alongside employment on digital platforms and conventional firms. 8. Supporting the development of computational analytics for social research in the digital age from UG to PG level as well as for ECRs and established researchers. 9. Establish secondments and internships in government, businesses and NGOs. 10. Links to EPSRC and AHRC investments in doctoral programmes on the Digital Economy. Part 2: identifies key opportunities for interdisciplinary, international research including partners beyond the research community Investment to support interdisciplinary research from economic, sociology, psychology, law and business studies is essential in taking this research agenda forward, as well as creating incentives to work with those in software engineering, informatics and the humanities. Some evidence of this already existing with the EPSRC Digital Economy theme, but a stronger focus on the work dimension of these changes is required to make a significant contribution to our wider knowledge.

2024

AI is not just technology—it’s rewriting the rules of work and society, raising hard questions we can’t ignore. What’s Left for Us? doesn’t shy away from the complexity of it all. This isn’t about AI as a silver bullet or a new gadget for the workplace. It’s about the transformation unfolding before us, reshaping industries, displacing jobs, and altering the structure of our day-to-day lives. This book pulls no punches. In Part One, you’ll find a straightforward analysis of AI’s capabilities and ethical concerns. It gets into everything from AI’s effect on privacy and inequality to the biases programmed into its algorithms. Part Two digs into the future of work in an AI-driven world, questioning who wins and who loses, and how we can stay responsible in a society increasingly influenced by automation and data. The writing is sharp, direct, and grounded in reality. What’s Left for Us? is for readers who aren’t looking for easy answers but want to understand the world we’re building with AI—its benefits, dangers, and the responsibilities we face.

Technological and social change is inevitable, and a smart society should shape its future, ideally through broadly-based and well-informed discussion. Technology is likely to unravel the 'work trilogy' (of task, pay, esteem) and we have the option to construct new socially-relevant alternatives, to take a laissez-faire approach, or to resist and attempt to maintain the status quo. Technology may reduce traditional employment opportunities, and its impact depends on the social response to maintain an egalitarian society. How do we as a society, agree on and progress towards the future society we desire, particularly as our politics tends towards shorter time-frames and personalities, rather than substance and long-term goals?

2020

Since modernity, ethic has been progressively fragmented into specific communities of practice. The digital revolution enabled by AI and Data is bringing ethical wicked problems in the crossroads of technology and behavior. However, the need of a comprehensive and constructive ethical framework is emerging as digital platforms connect us globally. The unequal structure of the global system makes that dynamic changes and systemic problems impact more on those that are most vulnerable. Ethical frameworks based only on the individual-level are not longer sufficient. A new ethical vision must comprise the understanding of the scales and complex interconnections of social systems. Many of these systems are internally fragile and very sensitive to external factors and threats, which turns into unethical situations that require systemic solutions. The high scale nature of digital technology that expands globally has also an impact at the individual level having the risk to make humans bein...

2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the modern workplace, presenting transformative opportunities alongside complex ethical challenges. This paper examines the impact of Al-driven automation on the workforce, focusing on the interrelated challenges of job displacement, algorithmic bias, and data privacy. Through a mixed-methods approach, including 450 employee surveys across diverse industries and 20 semi-structured interviews, we assess employee perceptions and concerns about Al's influence on their work lives. Our findings reveal statistically significant concerns (p < 0.01) about job displacement, particularly among employees in routine roles, highlighting the need for proactive reskilling programs. The paper also presents three case studies, illustrating ethical Al implementations and offering practical guidance to organizations. Critically, this research proposes a structured, human-centered ethical framework for Al implementation, emphasizing fairness, transparency, and accountability as guiding principles. The framework is implemented through specific measurable and actionable steps. Our research is designed to empower rather than displace human workers. Findings offer practical guidance for organizations, policymakers, and researchers seeking to navigate the ethical landscape of Al in the digital workplace, fostering trust, promoting innovation, and ensuring a future where Al helps all stakeholders.

2025

This research paper examines the environmental, legal, and governance implications of digitalization, focusing on the intersection of software engineering, sustainability, and accountability. As digital systems and Artificial Intelligence (AI) become increasingly embedded in society, their environmental footprint and regulatory challenges demand urgent attention. Drawing upon theories from scholars such as Beck on modernity and Haraway on the interconnected digital era, this study investigates how digitalization reshapes governance structures and sustainability efforts. The research addresses the growing environmental impact of AI and digital technologies, identifying gaps in existing legal and governance frameworks that fail to account for sustainability. The key objectives are to assess the energy consumption and ecological footprint of digitalization, analyze the perspectives of software professionals on sustainability, and propose accountability mechanisms that integrate environmental governance with software engineering practices. Methodologically, this study combines a literature review with qualitative research, including interviews with software professionals, to explore how sustainability considerations are-or are notintegrated into software development. The research highlights the lack of systematic approaches in current governance models and the absence of clear

Education and Research during COVID-19, 2021

Corona lockdown forced companies to go through an accelerated digital transformation. In many organizations, this change was really sudden and driven solely by the external health crisis circumstances. However, this process, although it is still quite recent, has already made significant remodeling in the world of work. Some companies announced that they are shifting their work models into digital ones. For instance, Twitter allows all its employees to work remotely, and Facebook expects half its staff to do so within a decade. But this can be observed not only within the tech giants but as well at the smaller organizations and startups, such as at the examined company, which has introduced a hybrid model - employees can voluntarily choose between working from home or being on-site.