The History and Future of Knowledge Work

3 credits

Ten thousand years ago, before the Agricultural Revolution made cities possible, there was no knowledge work. Virtually all human effort was devoted to collecting food. Over the centuries, a series of innovations reduced agricultural employment to less than 2% of the workforce today. For a time, workers shifted into manufacturing, which employed about 40% of the US workforce by the middle of the 20th century, but it now employs less than 10%. Today, the majority of work hours are devoted to knowledge work. But what does that mean? This course will define knowledge work, explain why it is valuable, and show how it differs from gathering food or bending metal. The looming question is how AI will change knowledge work. With this new analytical framework, you will be better able to anticipate the range of possibilities and better at understanding the changes you will see over the four decades you'll spend at work.