Technology · 6 min read
AI is an organisational decision
The consequential choices begin before the software arrives: what work is for, who can exercise judgement, and where the gains will go.
Read the essay ↗Journal / Opening collection
Ideas about value.
And how we live.
Long-form essays on technology, enterprise, culture, civic life and the everyday arrangements that shape our future.
Featured / Technology · 6 min read
AI is an organisational decision
The consequential choices begin before the software arrives: what work is for, who can exercise judgement, and where the gains will go.
Read the essay10 essays
Technology · 6 min read
Who will know how to do the work?
AI can help a person perform a task. Whether it helps that person become more capable depends on the design of the relationship.
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Technology · 6 min read
Who gets the time?
A more productive economy could give people more room to live. Whether it does depends on how the gains are distributed and how everyday life is organised.
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Enterprise · 6 min read
The business model is part of the public good
The way an organisation earns, spends and shares power shapes the good it can do. Purpose becomes durable when it is built into the operating arrangements.
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Civic life · 6 min read
Trust needs somewhere to live
People need more than an invitation to speak. They need institutions in which their contribution can make a difference, and a clear account of what happened afterwards.
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Places · 6 min read
A city worth staying in
A liveable city meets important needs. A lovable one gives people reasons to participate, return and care. The difference has practical consequences for how places are financed and run.
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Culture · 6 min read
Culture is infrastructure. What would it mean to fund it that way?
Cultural life depends on working conditions, affordable rooms and institutions that endure. Counting its economic contribution is useful. Deciding what kind of society can keep making culture requires a wider account.
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Everyday life · 6 min read
A place at the table is an operating model
A shared meal can make a large social ambition tangible. For that invitation to last, someone has to organise the welcome, pay for the work and make it possible to return.
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Places · 6 min read
Homes are assets. Housing is a system.
A dwelling’s purchase price reveals only part of its value. A serious housing proposition connects finance, tenure, accessibility and the everyday life that a home makes possible.
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Everyday life · 6 min read
The politics of a good day
A day has twenty-four hours. The freedom to use them is organised through work, care, transport and the institutions around us. Personal practice and structural change belong in the same conversation.
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About this collection
These essays connect ValueLab’s inquiry across innovation, investment, human compatibility and everyday life.