← Back to HomeHuman Purpose in the Super‑Automated Economy
WWDN Insight Brief – Newsletter Edition, May 2025
Prepared by: WhatWeDoNext (WWDN) Research Collective
Executive Snapshot
As advanced automation and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) expand across economic sectors, paid employment is no longer the default conduit for meaning and social contribution. This brief examines emerging frameworks for individual and collective purpose when routine and many creative tasks are performed by machines. It distils interdisciplinary scholarship, scenario analysis and early empirical signals to inform ongoing discussion among WWDN readers.
1 Context: From Labour‑Centric Identity to Post‑Labour Pluralism
Historically, the wage relationship has linked survival, status and societal contribution. National statistics, organisational structures and personal milestones (first job, promotion, retirement) reinforce a labour‑centred narrative of worth. When automation displaces large shares of cognitive and manual work, societies confront a two‑part challenge:
- Economic security – ensuring baseline income and access to services regardless of employment (addressed in previous WWDN briefs).
- Purpose and meaning – cultivating avenues for agency, belonging and achievement outside traditional jobs.
Anthropology reminds us that human cultures long pre‑date labour markets. Subsistence farming, ritual artistry and communal governance offered purpose without formal wages. The super‑automated era may echo pre‑industrial pluralism, albeit with digital infrastructure rather than village commons.
2 Five Dimensions of Human Purpose
An extensive literature—from Maslow's hierarchy to Deci & Ryan's Self‑Determination Theory—identifies recurrent drivers of purposeful experience. WWDN summarises these into five overlapping dimensions:
Dimension | Core Need | Illustrative Modern Channels |
---|
Agency | Autonomy, self‑direction | Personal learning pathways; citizen science platforms |
Relationship | Belonging, mutual recognition | Local cooperatives; digital communities; inter‑generational mentoring |
Mastery | Skill development, challenge | Open‑source projects; craft and art residencies; competitive e‑sports |
Contribution | Positive impact on others or environment | Urban biodiversity restoration; peer‑to‑peer care networks |
Transcendence | Engagement with ideals beyond the self | Cultural heritage curation; climate stewardship initiatives |
Automation can support each dimension—e.g., by providing personalised tutoring for mastery—yet the human protagonism remains central.
3 Glimpse of 2035: Portraits of Purpose
The portraits below extrapolate from pilot programmes now operating in several UK regions and allied international initiatives. They illustrate how the productivity dividend released by super‑automation can be channelled into endeavours that deepen community resilience and individual flourishing.
“The real promise of intelligent machines is not that they will work for us, but that they will buy us the time to become fully human.”— Field interview, WWDN Newcastle Purpose Pilot, March 2035
- The River Restorer: A citizen collective guided by eco‑digital twins revives the Tyne's micro‑wetlands. AI sensors flag algal blooms; volunteers decide where to plant willow walls and when to open fish passes. Weekly water‑quality dashboards double as civic scoreboards, turning environmental stewardship into a shared community sport. Participants describe "watching the river breathe again" as more rewarding than any previous promotion.
- The Polyglot Story Weaver: Leveraging universal translation models, retired teacher Farah hosts nightly cross‑continent story circles. Listeners from Lagos to Leeds co‑author interactive folk tales, voiced by local‑dialect generators but curated by Farah's narrative instinct. Her living anthology has reunited diasporas and sparked new children's literature, demonstrating that cultural creation accelerates when language barriers fall.
- The Care‑Circle Conductor: In Manchester, AI scheduling tools match neighbours' availability with the daily needs of elders and new parents. Yasmin, once a call‑centre supervisor, now orchestrates a forty‑person "care circle" covering three hundred hours of human presence each week. Algorithms optimise rosters, but Yasmin's role—mentoring volunteers, celebrating milestones—anchors the group emotionally.
- The Perpetual Apprentice: Without tuition fees or credential gatekeepers, Malik rotates through craft residencies—ceramic glazing, drone cinematography, traditional boat‑building—every quarter. Personalised AI mentors maintain his skill graph, suggesting new disciplines that build on prior micro‑certifications. Malik's open "portfolio of mastery" inspires others to treat learning as a lifelong expedition rather than a pre‑employment hurdle.
These portraits converge on three themes: ecological restoration, cultural renewal and relational care. Each leverages automation to remove drudgery while amplifying human judgement, creativity and empathy.
4 Institutional and Cultural Evolutions
The transition to post‑labour purpose is shaped as much by social norms as by technology. Selected developments already observable or under active exploration include:
- Purpose Accounts: Some municipalities pilot time‑bank ledgers recording voluntary hours, artistic works, and mentorship sessions—providing a public record of contribution rather than a monetary wage.
- Learning Passports: Lifelong, stackable micro‑credential systems credit skills irrespective of economic return, shifting social recognition toward learning progress.
- Commons‑Based Production Hubs: Maker‑spaces and urban farms operate as blended digital‑physical commons, distributing stewardship roles among members.
- Rites of Transition 2.0: Community ceremonies now mark completion of cooperative projects or sustainability milestones, replacing traditional promotion rituals.
5 Open Questions for Further Inquiry
- Metrics: How might societies measure purposeful activity without reducing it to monetised outputs?
- Equity: Will access to purpose‑granting platforms replicate existing inequalities, or can design choices broaden inclusion?
- Governance: What institutional forms best safeguard autonomy while coordinating large‑scale collective endeavours?
- Psychological Adaptation: Which educational or cultural practices help individuals navigate identity shifts away from occupational labels?
- Intergenerational Dynamics: How will differing exposure to post‑labour norms affect social cohesion between age cohorts?
6 Conclusion
Purpose is neither scarce nor solely mediated by paid employment. The super‑automated economy can unlock time and resources for diverse expressions of agency, creativity and care—provided that institutional frameworks and cultural narratives evolve in tandem. WWDN will continue to monitor pilots and emerging research to inform our community of practice.
References
- Deci, E. & Ryan, R. (2000) “Self‑Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation.” American Psychologist.
- OECD (2024) How's Life in the Digital Age? Indicators of Well‑Being in 38 Countries.
- Susskind, D. (2025) The End of Professions? AI and the Future of Expertise.
- Bletchley Declaration (UK Government, 2023) – Sections on societal impact.
WhatWeDoNext (WWDN) is a non-partisan UK think tank analysing the social and economic implications of emerging technologies. Contact: insights@wwdn.org