Post-AI work means a return to pre-industrial relational labor, argues Asterisk essay
GavinSBaker · x · 2026-09-05
Investor Gavin Baker shares and praises Clara Collier's Asterisk essay "After Work, We'll Have Each Other," highlighting its analogy between aristocratic and chimpanzee societies. The piece engages economist Alex Imas's "relational sector" thesis: once AI does all economically necessary labor, humans supply the human touch. Collier argues this is a return to pre-industrial norms, when work itself carried little dignity and identity came from dense social worlds — and fears the relationalists are right.
Related event: Asterisk essay reimagines life after AI takes over work(4 posts)→
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