post work society

Thought lab · worldwide · from Linz

What happens to our societies and cities when AI and robotics leave far less work to do?

A large share of today's work is technically exposed to AI – in offices as much as in factories. Who earns the money then, how do cities and welfare states pay their way, what do we do with our time? This site gathers checked facts from around the world, presents ideas and experiments and invites debate – without a ready-made answer. Linz, Austria, serves as a test case.

The counter-argument first

Whether the work will really run out is an open question. The studies available so far – mainly from the US and Denmark – find no mass job losses from AI across the economy as a whole. The clearest warning sign concerns young people entering work, and even that is disputed. We take both seriously: everything here is a possibility, not a forecast.

What we know – and what we don't →

The world in figures

25% of workers worldwide are in an occupation exposed to generative AI May 2025 · roughly one in four; exposed does not mean replaced
78 m net additional jobs by 2030, as expected by employers worldwide January 2025 · 170m new jobs, 92m jobs displaced
542,000 industrial robots newly installed worldwide in 2024 2024 · more than twice as many as ten years earlier; 54% of them in China
19% less employment for 22- to 25-year-olds in AI-exposed occupations August 2026 · US, relative to less exposed peers; a correlation, not a proven causal effect

All figures with sources →

Where to start?

EvidenceHow much work is exposed to AI, what can already be measured, and how far apart are the forecasts?More → BasicsFrom Keynes and Marienthal to today: three camps, their arguments and their critics.More → InstrumentsBasic income, job guarantee, four-day week, AI taxes – what experiments around the world have found.More → CitiesRuhr, Pittsburgh, Port Talbot, Bengaluru: what cities can learn from upheaval.More → WorldEU, US, China, Japan, India: the same technology, very different answers.More → Linz LabAn industrial city in transition: Linz as a test case – with dossiers, scenarios and figures.More →

Think along

Basic income or basic services? Who owns the machines? Can meaning exist without paid work? Tell us your view – selected contributions appear on the site after review.

To the debate →