Over the last 75 years, the meaning of “work” has turned into something completely different.
It used to be simple: if you didn’t work, you died.
That was it.
Three shifts in what “working” actually means
Now, you don’t necessarily die if you stop working.
In Japan we have welfare.
You can still get thrown out and end up on the street, sure,
but as a system the country has shifted toward “at least keep people alive.”
So “I work to stay alive” is no longer the whole story.
These days it feels much closer to:
I work so I have some kind of role.
Looking toward 2100
If we jump 75 years ahead — around 2100 — AI and automation will push this even further.
Even the idea of “having a role” will grow thinner.
Work will stop being necessary,
and the people who keep working will be the exception.
What remains when labor disappears
When that happens, people won’t have many places left to put their energy.
We’ll have no choice but to search for meaning inside hobbies and small communities.
Art and creativity will still exist — but that’s a path for the uneven minority.
For most people, the real lifeline will be things like:
- loose membership in a circle or community
- loose, low-stakes roles
- “work” that feels closer to play
The shift from survival to purpose
In short, the meaning of work is sliding from “survival” → “role” → “one piece of a larger purpose.”
The more efficiently AI strips labor down to pure function,
the more important our human unevenness becomes.
Once efficiency has cleared everything else away,
what remains is each person’s bias, preference, and texture.
In that kind of future, my job as an artist is probably to make those biases visible — to give shape to the uneven parts that refuse to be flattened.