Sending our avatars to work with Tracey Follows #15

Work has played a key role in shaping our identities and sense of self. By 2050, that single identity will have gone, replaced by a series of avatars: the representations of ourselves we mix and edit for different situations. We will be represented, not present. What does that mean for us, for our employers?

In this episode, Marissa is joined by one of Forbes Top 50 Female Futurists, Professor Tracey Follows. Tracey is Visiting Professor of Digital Futures and Identity at Staffordshire University, a consultant to global businesses and a fellow podcaster with her series The Future of You. So, what is the future of you? A single human employee with a single job or a wardrobe of avatars shape-shifting for multiple different roles?

• We are already less ‘singular’ than we like to imagine. Will this new world simply be a new way of presenting multiple versions of ourselves in different situations?
• Will our avatars have their own experiences, resumes and CVs, or will we – the ‘original’ behind these copies – be what employers value?
• With us controlling how our avatars show up at work, will the digital self finally see the end of discrimination on characteristics like gender and race?
• Or will neurotech allow employers to collect brain data and introduce a new kind of discrimination: cognitive speed?