cultivar_22_Final_EN

42 ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDIES CULTIVAR Issue 22 APRIL 2021 Thirdly, technology in itself is not the decisive game changer that we thought. Its impacts depend on the institutional context in which innovation takes place. If living work (by humans) is increasingly replaced by dead work (by robots) in productive processes in the future, three scenarios take shape. First, depend- ing on growth, productivity gains will be absorbed proportionally by wages and turned into demand for more (and eventually other) goods and services. Second, regardless of growth, the right to work is ensured through an equitable sharing of social labour. Third, work and employment become a privi- lege and those denied the right to work are paid sub- sidies funded by taxes on the income of those who work and the profits of the owners of the robots. Technology, as we know, brings about risks that should be more closely scrutinised than they currentlyare. But robots, whether smart or not, are not themselves responsible for the con- sequences they may have on employment. These depend on the institutional context in which inno- vation takes places. And the evolution of the institu- tional context depends on political choices. And the evolution of the institutional context depends on political choices.