From the working agent to machine time: a pedagogical reflection on the automation of work

Abstract

Starting from the genealogy of the twentieth-century factory, understood as a space that separates design from execution and standardizes time and motion, the paper examines how contemporary automation and AI systems extend that rationalization beyond the technical-organizational plane, reshaping the cognitive and temporal dimensions of work as well. The research question is: how do these technologies reconfigure the formation of the person at work and, by which pedagogical criteria, can agency, practical judgment, and cooperation be preserved beyond mere training? The analysis identifies three outcomes: a questioning of the “operative subject” within automated processes; the emergence of “machine-time,” which synchronizes procedures and constricts spaces for reflection; and the need for a pedagogical framework that treats work as an intentional, situated formative experience. From this follow several operational indications: align formative aims with metrics; carve out structured moments of reflection-in-action; and govern organizational time so as to preserve room for human decision-making and responsibility.