The one-sentence truth: Technology does not simply “take jobs”; it changes tasks, costs, capabilities and the relative value of different forms of labour.
Core vocabulary
Productivity, automation, augmentation, displacement, substitution, complementarity, labour demand, reskilling, transition cost, task composition.
Automation versus augmentation
Automation substitutes technology for human tasks. Augmentation increases what humans can do. The same tool can perform both roles in different occupations.
Jobs versus tasks
Occupations are bundles of tasks. Technology may automate some while leaving others or creating new ones. This distinction prevents exaggerated predictions.
Productivity
Productivity measures output relative to inputs. Gains can raise living standards, but distribution matters: who captures the gain and who bears transition costs?
Displacement
Displacement can be temporary or persistent. Its severity depends on retraining, labour demand, geographic mobility and how quickly new complementary tasks emerge.
Example sentence
“AI is likely to reshape employment unevenly because its substitutive effect is greatest in standardised cognitive tasks, while occupations requiring judgement, accountability and interpersonal trust may experience stronger augmentation.”
Singapore application
Singapore’s open economy, skills policy and labour constraints create useful contexts for discussing productivity and technological transition. Avoid assuming aggregate gains reach every worker equally.
Continue the JC2 GP vocabulary system
Return to General Paper Vocabulary Year 2 (JC2) and Vocabulary for Junior College (JC1–JC2).
Final thought
The important question is not whether technology changes work. It is whether institutions help people move with the change.