LABOR RELATIONS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AUTOMATION, WORKFORCE SUBSTITUTION, AND THE SOCIAL MEDIATIONS OF THE FUTURE OF WORK

Authors

  • Eric de Melo Lima
  • Joelson Lopes da Paixão
  • Filipe Molinar Machado
  • Rodrigo José Leite Cavalcante
  • Jansley Hudson de Oliveira
  • Mateus Sangoi Frozza
  • Yasmin da Silva Fermin
  • Claudio Augusto Kelly

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-003

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence, Automation, Labor relations, Universal basic income, Platformization

Abstract

This article examines the transformations in labor relations driven by the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and the automation of bureaucratic, repetitive, and cognitively standardizable tasks. The study aims to critically analyze the impact of AI on occupations, skill requirements, social inequalities, and institutional responses, problematizing the deterministic thesis that technological progress inherently leads to either workforce emancipation or precarization. Methodologically structured as a theoretical-critical essay, this research employs a narrative literature review approach. The corpus, sourced from prominent academic databases, spans from the late twentieth century to 2025, with a specific focus on post-2023 publications concerning generative AI. As its primary analytical contribution, this paper proposes a framework of three articulated mediations—regulatory-legal, formative-educational, and redistributive-fiscal—synthesized in a heuristic chart. This framework evaluates the conditions under which AI can function as a shared societal resource rather than a mechanism for wealth concentration. The discussion is empirically grounded in the Brazilian context, utilizing official data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) to contextualize labor informality, alongside intersecting gender and racial inequalities within the labor market. Ultimately, the article argues that the socioeconomic effects of AI are not driven by the technology in isolation, but rather by the social, legal, educational, and political mediations that govern its collective appropriation, particularly within the distinct structural constraints of semi-peripheral economies.

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Published

2026-06-01

How to Cite

Lima, E. de M. ., da Paixão, J. L. ., Machado, F. M. ., Cavalcante, R. J. L. ., de Oliveira, J. H. ., Frozza, M. S. ., Fermin, Y. da S. ., & Kelly, C. A. . (2026). LABOR RELATIONS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AUTOMATION, WORKFORCE SUBSTITUTION, AND THE SOCIAL MEDIATIONS OF THE FUTURE OF WORK. South American Sciences, 6(2), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-003

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2026): South American Sciences

Section

Artigos

License

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