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Future of Work (Global Challenges - Social Equity and Inclusion)
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A.A. 2026/27
Course Language
Inglese
Degree programme(s)
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Gestionale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Meccanica (Mechanical Engineering) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Design E Comunicazione - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Dell'Autoveicolo (Automotive Engineering) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Informatica (Computer Engineering) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Dell'Autoveicolo - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Electronic And Communications Engineering (Ingegneria Elettronica E Delle Comunicazioni) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Dei Materiali - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Architettura (Architecture) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Elettrica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Aerospaziale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Biomedica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Chimica E Alimentare - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Civile - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Edile - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Energetica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Meccanica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Per L'Ambiente E Il Territorio - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Matematica Per L'Ingegneria - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Elettronica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Informatica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Fisica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Del Cinema E Dei Mezzi Di Comunicazione - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Gestionale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Gestionale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Architettura - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Pianificazione Territoriale, Urbanistica E Paesaggistico-Ambientale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Civil And Environmental Engineering - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Architettura - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Architettura (Architecture) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Civil And Environmental Engineering - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Design E Comunicazione - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Electronic And Communications Engineering - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Aerospaziale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Chimica E Alimentare - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Civile - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Dei Materiali - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Del Cinema E Dei Media Digitali - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Dell'Autoveicolo - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Dell'Autoveicolo (Automotive Engineering) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Edile - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Elettrica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Elettronica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Energetica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Fisica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Gestionale - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Meccanica - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Meccanica (Mechanical Engineering) - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Ingegneria Per L'Ambiente E Il Territorio - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Matematica Per L'Ingegneria - Torino
1st degree and Bachelor-level of the Bologna process in Pianificazione Territoriale, Urbanistica E Paesaggistico-Ambientale - Torino
Course structure
| Teaching | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lezioni | 30 |
| Esercitazioni in aula | 30 |
| Tutoraggio | 24 |
Lecturers
| Teacher | Status | SSD | h.Les | h.Ex | h.Lab | h.Tut | Years teaching |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tubiana Matteo | Ricercatore L240/10 | IEGE-01/A | 10 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Co-lectures
Context
| SSD | CFU | Activities | Area context | GSPS-02/A IEGE-01/A IINF-05/A |
1,75 1,75 2,5 |
D - A scelta dello studente D - A scelta dello studente D - A scelta dello studente |
A scelta dello studente A scelta dello studente A scelta dello studente |
|---|
2026/27
The course is part of the “Global Challenges” catalogue, designed to offer a learning experience focused on the analysis of complex, cross-cutting issues across different study programmes. Its aim is to provide students with the tools needed to understand and address the major challenges of the present and the future with awareness, responsibility, and a collaborative mindset.
The catalogue promotes a broad and integrated perspective by bringing together STEM disciplines — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — with the humanities and social sciences. The courses address current, interdisciplinary topics and aim to develop innovative technological solutions through a critical approach, with particular attention to ethics and the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of the proposed solutions.
Teaching activities foster active and multidisciplinary learning, encouraging the integration of technical, scientific, social, and humanistic competencies. Through team-based project work, students develop design skills, interdisciplinary dialogue, shared responsibility, and the ability to understand, contextualise, and tackle complex problems.
The “Global Challenges” catalogue will be launched each year with a lectio magistralis in English dedicated to a highly relevant theme.
Future of Work
Technological change is one of the primary, pervasive forces shaping our society. From daily life routines to industrial capacity, from work and private social interactions to political preferences and public debates, old and new technologies mould and curb our lives. The engineers and citizens of tomorrow must be equipped with the necessary technical and interpretative tools to understand and dissect how technologies affect society.
In this course, we will dive into the vast and complex relationship between technologies and work. Indeed, each new wave of technological innovation radically transforms the world of work: new occupations emerge while others become obsolete. Some groups and places benefit from the intrusion of technology into working routines, but others fail to cope with it. The organisation of both work routines and workplaces change as a consequence of transformations in the production processes of goods and services.
Although there are recurring trends in the technology-work nexus, we will dedicate particular attention to the newest wave of technological innovation, labelled “digital technologies” and mainly represented by AI, advanced robotics and digitally interconnected machines. What is happening today? And what is likely to occur in the near future? Who are the winners and losers of technological transitions, and how are these groups contesting outcomes in the political arena? To answer such questions, we will ground ourselves in the frontier of academic research and explore the consequences of technological change for various forms of socio-economic inequality.
We cannot pretend to comprehend technology’s impact without a clear understanding of what technologies are and can do. Students will begin with a basic yet substantial apprenticeship in the characteristics and affordances of digital technologies. Thereafter, they will explore the positive and negative consequences of implementing technologies in the workplace. Moreover, the course will equip students with the tools to understand and interpret societal responses to technological change, and to comprehend and design appropriate policy interventions, through a strategic, robust method for developing long-term plans under uncertainty called scenario planning.
The course will address complex and relevant topics through interactive classes, case studies, group project work, and talks with external experts from both academia and private businesses that are already implementing digital technologies.
The course is part of the “Global Challenges” catalogue, designed to offer a learning experience focused on the analysis of complex, cross-cutting issues across different study programmes. Its aim is to provide students with the tools needed to understand and address the major challenges of the present and the future with awareness, responsibility, and a collaborative mindset.
The catalogue promotes a broad and integrated perspective by bringing together STEM disciplines — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — with the humanities and social sciences. The courses address current, interdisciplinary topics and aim to develop innovative technological solutions through a critical approach, with particular attention to ethics and the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of the proposed solutions.
Teaching activities foster active and multidisciplinary learning, encouraging the integration of technical, scientific, social, and humanistic competencies. Through team-based project work, students develop design skills, interdisciplinary dialogue, shared responsibility, and the ability to understand, contextualise, and tackle complex problems.
The “Global Challenges” catalogue will be launched each year with a lectio magistralis in English dedicated to a highly relevant theme.
Technological change is one of the primary, pervasive forces shaping our society. From daily life routines to industrial capacity, from work and private social interactions to political preferences and public debates, old and new technologies mould and curb our lives. The engineers and citizens of tomorrow must be equipped with the necessary technical and interpretative tools to understand and dissect how technologies affect society.
In this course, we will dive into the vast and complex relationship between technologies and work. Indeed, each new wave of technological innovation radically transforms the world of work: new occupations emerge while others become obsolete. Some groups and places benefit from the intrusion of technology into working routines, but others fail to cope with it. The organisation of both work routines and workplaces change as a consequence of transformations in the production processes of goods and services.
Although there are recurring trends in the technology-work nexus, we will dedicate particular attention to the newest wave of technological innovation, labelled “digital technologies” and mainly represented by AI, advanced robotics and digitally interconnected machines. What is happening today? And what is likely to occur in the near future? Who are the winners and losers of technological transitions, and how are these groups contesting outcomes in the political arena? To answer such questions, we will ground ourselves in the frontier of academic research and explore the consequences of technological change for various forms of socio-economic inequality.
We cannot pretend to comprehend technology’s impact without a clear understanding of what technologies are and can do. Students will begin with a basic yet substantial apprenticeship in the characteristics and affordances of digital technologies. Thereafter, they will explore the positive and negative consequences of implementing technologies in the workplace. Moreover, the course will equip students with the tools to understand and interpret societal responses to technological change, and to comprehend and design appropriate policy interventions, through a strategic, robust method for developing long-term plans under uncertainty called scenario planning.
The course will address complex and relevant topics through interactive classes, case studies, group project work, and talks with external experts from both academia and private businesses that are already implementing digital technologies.
At the end of the course, students will have acquired:
• The necessary knowledge to comprehend and discuss the applicability of the newest digital technologies, and particularly AI. Saliently, students will be equipped to assess technology’s capabilities and threats.
• The elementary knowledge of key theories describing the social and economic impacts of technological change (labour economics, management and economics of innovation, political science, social policy, and decision science).
• The ability to propose how technological transitions might be regulated and which policies could be implemented to ensure balanced, democratically legitimate change, promoting technological progress, economic growth, and social cohesion. In particular, students will learn how to draft future scenarios using scenario planning techniques.
• The competencies to interact in the public debate about the future of technology and work without prejudice, equipped with the appropriate interpretative lens to debunk popular hypes, and open to possibilities.
• The basic competencies to work on and with AI, embedding tools into hybrid decision-making and output evaluation.
At the end of the course, students will have acquired:
• The necessary knowledge to comprehend and discuss the applicability of the newest digital technologies, and particularly AI. Saliently, students will be equipped to assess technology’s capabilities and threats.
• The elementary knowledge of key theories describing the social and economic impacts of technological change (labour economics, management and economics of innovation, political science, social policy, and decision science).
• The ability to propose how technological transitions might be regulated and which policies could be implemented to ensure balanced, democratically legitimate change, promoting technological progress, economic growth, and social cohesion. In particular, students will learn how to draft future scenarios using scenario planning techniques.
• The competencies to interact in the public debate about the future of technology and work without prejudice, equipped with the appropriate interpretative lens to debunk popular hypes, and open to possibilities.
• The basic competencies to work on and with AI, embedding tools into hybrid decision-making and output evaluation.
None in particular. The teaching will start from scratch. A genuine interest in understanding social phenomena is beneficial.
None in particular. The teaching will start from scratch. A genuine interest in understanding social phenomena is beneficial.
The course foresees an opening lectio magistralis in English — delivered simultaneously for all courses in the Global Challenges catalogue — on a highly topical issue.
The course is then split into two halves. The first 30 hours primarily consist of face-to-face lectures that lay the necessary building blocks for students to navigate the second half of the course, which focuses on group project work and interactions with external hosts.
Lectures will develop on three levels of analysis — technology, the socio-economic system, and business organisations — and will be delivered by three instructors: a social scientist, an informatics engineer, and a political scientist. Workshops, simulations and experiential activities will support students’ learning by doing and interacting, including with AI. Lectures will touch on the following topics:
• The meaning of “Artificial Intelligence” and how, despite the enthusiasm of mainstream media, such “intelligent processes” are nothing more than the result of simple numerical optimisations.
• A brief history of AI and ML, to understand the current limitations, the plausible outcomes, and the potential ethical problems.
• The effects of technological change characteristics (rate and direction) on various dimensions of work (employment, wages, wealth, quality, and nature) through the lens of dominant macro-socioeconomic theories.
• A basic understanding of an emerging trend in work organisation consequent to the exploitation of digital technologies: the platformisation of work.
• The impact of digital technologies, particularly AI, on fundamental elements of work organisation, such as task variety, autonomy, employee involvement, automation, and augmentation.
• The purpose and effectiveness of various forms of training (such as upskilling, reskilling and lifelong learning).
• The role of policies in mediating technological change’s disruptive effects or diffusing empowering and enabling technologies throughout society.
• The circular relationship between technological change and citizens’ preferences, political and consumption choices.
• Scenario planning for future scenario discussions, public policy design, and anticipatory governance.
Students will be required to undertake a group project work structured as follows.
• Students will autonomously divide into groups of about 6 individuals, as heterogeneous as possible.
• Based on students’ specific inclinations, the group will identify a digital-era technology with current and potential impact on the world of work.
• Autonomously, but under the instructors’ guidance, the group will analyse the technology’s functioning and identify a circumscribed use case to illustrate the technology’s socio-economic impact and public policy responses, with direct reference to the theories discussed in class.
• Following the scenario-planning methodology, the group will develop plausible future scenarios for the chosen technology, its socio-economic impact, and public policy responses.
• The project work will include meetings with the entire class and group work during class time. Groups and individuals must also carry out additional work outside class hours (see the definition of “academic credit”, CFU, from the Politecnico’s Student Guides).
• Each group is requested to prepare a short 8-minute video to be streamed in class and evaluated. In addition, each student is asked to submit a report detailing their individual contribution to carrying out the group project.
The course foresees an opening lectio magistralis in English — delivered simultaneously for all courses in the Global Challenges catalogue — on a highly topical issue.
The course is then split into two halves. The first 30 hours primarily consist of face-to-face lectures that lay the necessary building blocks for students to navigate the second half of the course, which focuses on group project work and interactions with external hosts.
Lectures will develop on three levels of analysis — technology, the socio-economic system, and business organisations — and will be delivered by three instructors: a social scientist, an informatics engineer, and a political scientist. Workshops, simulations and experiential activities will support students’ learning by doing and interacting, including with AI. Lectures will touch on the following topics:
• The meaning of “Artificial Intelligence” and how, despite the enthusiasm of mainstream media, such “intelligent processes” are nothing more than the result of simple numerical optimisations.
• A brief history of AI and ML, to understand the current limitations, the plausible outcomes, and the potential ethical problems.
• The effects of technological change characteristics (rate and direction) on various dimensions of work (employment, wages, wealth, quality, and nature) through the lens of dominant macro-socioeconomic theories.
• A basic understanding of an emerging trend in work organisation consequent to the exploitation of digital technologies: the platformisation of work.
• The impact of digital technologies, particularly AI, on fundamental elements of work organisation, such as task variety, autonomy, employee involvement, automation, and augmentation.
• The purpose and effectiveness of various forms of training (such as upskilling, reskilling and lifelong learning).
• The role of policies in mediating technological change’s disruptive effects or diffusing empowering and enabling technologies throughout society.
• The circular relationship between technological change and citizens’ preferences, political and consumption choices.
• Scenario planning for future scenario discussions, public policy design, and anticipatory governance.
Students will be required to undertake a group project work structured as follows.
• Students will autonomously divide into groups of about 6 individuals, as heterogeneous as possible.
• Based on students’ specific inclinations, the group will identify a digital-era technology with current and potential impact on the world of work.
• Autonomously, but under the instructors’ guidance, the group will analyse the technology’s functioning and identify a circumscribed use case to illustrate the technology’s socio-economic impact and public policy responses, with direct reference to the theories discussed in class.
• Following the scenario-planning methodology, the group will develop plausible future scenarios for the chosen technology, its socio-economic impact, and public policy responses.
• The project work will include meetings with the entire class and group work during class time. Groups and individuals must also carry out additional work outside class hours (see the definition of “academic credit”, CFU, from the Politecnico’s Student Guides).
• Each group is requested to prepare a short 8-minute video to be streamed in class and evaluated. In addition, each student is asked to submit a report detailing their individual contribution to carrying out the group project.
The course may be challenging for engineering students without a socio-economic smattering, but it is designed to be interactive and rewarding if approached with appropriate engagement. Hence, attendance is highly recommended.
The course may be challenging for engineering students without a socio-economic smattering, but it is designed to be interactive and rewarding if approached with appropriate engagement. Hence, attendance is highly recommended.
Out of 60 hours, 50% will be devoted to lectures and workshops, and 50% to developing a group project, as well as to meetings with company representatives, hosted in class, to share their views on the future of work.
Out of 60 hours, 50% will be devoted to lectures and workshops, and 50% to developing a group project, as well as to meetings with company representatives, hosted in class, to share their views on the future of work.
Since the course is based on the academic research frontier, no manual is available. The instructors will provide the bibliographic references for the theoretical part of the Future of Work course during the session. Any references for completing the project work will be suggested directly to the students involved.
Since the course is based on the academic research frontier, no manual is available. The instructors will provide the bibliographic references for the theoretical part of the Future of Work course during the session. Any references for completing the project work will be suggested directly to the students involved.
Slides;
Lecture slides;
Modalita di esame: Elaborato progettuale in gruppo; Prova scritta in aula tramite PC con l'utilizzo della piattaforma di ateneo;
Exam: Group project; Computer-based written test in class using POLITO platform;
...
The overall grade is a weighted aggregation of two evaluations:
1. A 90-minute written exam (60%) is held regularly during exam sessions. The exam consists of four open-ended questions on the topics explicitly covered in the Future of Work course.
2. The group project evaluation (40%) takes place in class at the end of the course. The group project work evaluation never expires. All details on the group project work will be delivered during classes.
To pass the course examination successfully, both the written exam AND the group project work evaluation must receive a sufficient grade. Consequently, active and proactive participation in the project work is mandatory.
Groups may obtain additional points by handling high-quality reports on talks with external experts and in-person visits, and by actively participating in project work discussions.
For students who do not attend the course, the final grade will be based solely on the written exam. Since there is no manual for the course’s topics, the study material must be discussed with the instructors. However, given the highly interactive and frontier nature of the course, it is highly recommended to attend classes whenever possible. When it is not possible, non-attending students are strongly encouraged to ask their colleagues for notes.
Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilita o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unita Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione piu idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.
Exam: Group project; Computer-based written test in class using POLITO platform;
The overall grade is a weighted aggregation of two evaluations:
1. A 90-minute written exam (60%) is held regularly during exam sessions. The exam consists of four open-ended questions on the topics explicitly covered in the Future of Work course.
2. The group project evaluation (40%) takes place in class at the end of the course. The group project work evaluation never expires. All details on the group project work will be delivered during classes.
To pass the course examination successfully, both the written exam AND the group project work evaluation must receive a sufficient grade. Consequently, active and proactive participation in the project work is mandatory.
Groups may obtain additional points by handling high-quality reports on talks with external experts and in-person visits, and by actively participating in project work discussions.
For students who do not attend the course, the final grade will be based solely on the written exam. Since there is no manual for the course’s topics, the study material must be discussed with the instructors. However, given the highly interactive and frontier nature of the course, it is highly recommended to attend classes whenever possible. When it is not possible, non-attending students are strongly encouraged to ask their colleagues for notes.
In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.