Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

When Exit and Voice come at Great Cost

This paper investigates the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of work. It shows how AI systems used in employment and workers management not only automate tasks but may also reshape workplace governance by reinforcing discriminatory norms and constraining workers’ equal power and collective bargaining. In particular, the paper argues that Hirschman’s concepts of exit and voice, originally developed as responses to domination within organisations, are insufficient to address the deeper power structures and dynamics of AI-mediated labour. Instead, it explores how a neo-republican theoretical lens offers a more robust normative foundation for analysing the novel societal harms introduced by AI, while foregrounding non-domination and democratic practices at work. Moving beyond exit and voice, the paper highlights the importance of workplace democracy and suggests potential pathways for its operationalisation in the context of AI-mediated labour.