ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, HUMAN LABOUR AND THE FUTURE OF WORK: A STUDY OF KAZUO ISHIGURO’S KLARA AND THE SUN

Abstract

The growing presence of artificial intelligence in the workplace is changing how labour, productivity, skill and human value are understood. Artificial intelligence is increasingly used not only for routine tasks but also for communication, decision-making, monitoring and forms of assistance that were once closely associated with human judgement and interaction. Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun offers a useful literary space for examining these changes. Through Klara, an Artificial Friend designed to provide companionship and care, the novel unsettles the boundary between machine and human and raises questions about the value of work that is emotional, relational and supportive. This paper examines the representation of artificial labour in the novel through posthumanism, Marxist perspectives on labour and commodification, and the concept of emotional labour. It argues that Klara’s usefulness cannot be separated from the human relationships she enters, and that her presence exposes a wider anxiety about human replaceability. The paper further connects these literary concerns with contemporary Human Resource Management, particularly recruitment, performance evaluation, employee surveillance, automation and workforce displacement. The study suggests that the future of work should not be understood simply as a competition between human beings and machines. Instead, it calls for a more careful distinction between tasks that can be automated and forms of judgement, care and responsibility that require human accountability. Ishiguro’s novel therefore remains significant for thinking about the ethical meaning of work in an increasingly automated world.