DRAFT / IN DEVELOPMENT
Who owns the machines?
Investigating control of productive assets as automation changes where economic value is created.
MEDIA / ORIGINAL PUBLISHERS
Different voices. An open question.
3 sourced episodes. Explore different perspectives, then choose a player. No autoplay.
18:35
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This is an outline for an investigation, not a completed research paper. Evidence, source review and a full argument will be developed before publication.
Why this question matters
Greater productive capacity does not, by itself, explain how income, security or decision-making power are distributed. This Dispatch asks how the ownership of productive assets could shape that relationship.
Follow the evidence
The connected research separates occupational exposure from job loss, and access to assets from meaningful control.
From labour to ownership — Research Thread 01 ↗Key evidence / source context
One in four workers globally is in an occupation with some generative-AI exposure. Exposure measures potential task transformation, not predicted job losses or a finding about the distribution of ownership.
International Labour Organization · 2025-05-20 ↗Questions still open
- If most workers have pensions, are they already capital owners without thinking of themselves that way?
- If AI increases company productivity, who captures the gain?
- Can ownership realistically supplement declining labour income at scale?
Research status
In development · source review and argument-building.
Relevant Signals and sources
- Real Digital Securities Activity Enters the UK Sandbox
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financial-stability/digital-securities-sandbox/digital-securities-sandbox-dashboard