Being human in 2035

CHAPTER 01 / 03

Who will do the work, and who will decide?

Looking towards 2035, we ask which tasks machines will perform. Other questions belong at the same table: who will determine the purpose of the work? Who will bear the cost of a decision? Who will keep the time saved? The answers will shape everyday life in the future.

The ILO’s 2025 study distinguishes between tasks that may be exposed to generative AI and the complete disappearance of an occupation. Because some tasks still require human input, it finds transformation more likely than full replacement for many jobs. [1] That distinction changes the unit of discussion: before considering job titles, we can examine the decisions within the work.

CHAPTER 02 / 03

Who owns efficiency?

Mira Nâl distinguishes producing a draft decision from holding the authority to make it. A quick suggestion does not automatically transfer responsibility to a machine. A decision affecting a patient, student or worker needs someone who can explain its grounds and, when necessary, change it.

Rauf Veylan examines how the same change is shared. When work finishes two hours earlier, will that become free time for the worker, or will new tasks fill it? Whose life an efficiency gain improves depends on institutional choices as well as technological features. Buying a tool and building fair arrangements around it are separate tasks.

CHAPTER 03 / 03

Life in the time that remains

Neva Arın reminds us that less work will not necessarily mean fewer questions about ourselves. If someone has long been recognised for doing a task well, where will they look for their worth when that task changes? Preserving relationships of belonging matters alongside renewing a skill.

For Saye Koral, these relationships need places. In a future with more work done from home, libraries, squares, parks and neighbourhoods will also be infrastructure for encounters. An hour saved can enter shared life when there is a street to go out into and somewhere to sit.

Four questions remain at the table: which task is changing? Who decides? Who keeps the time? Where will we meet each other? Discussing 2035 begins by bringing these questions into today’s contracts, working hours and pavements.