AI-driven Automation as a Pre-condition for Eudaimonia

Abstract: The debate surrounding the 'future of work' is saturated with alarmist warnings about the loss of work as an intrinsically valuable activity. Instead, the present doctoral research approaches this debate from the perspective of human flourishing (eudaimonia). It articulates a neo-Aristotelian interpretation according to which the prospect of mass AI-driven automation, far from being a threat, is rather desirable insofar as it facilitates humans' flourishing and, subsequently, their engagement in leisure. Drawing on virtue jurisprudence, this research further explores what this desirability may imply for the current legal order.