The DOI matches its Crossref record.
The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts
Abstract
This book predicts the decline of today's professions and describes the people and systems that will replace them. In an Internet society, according to Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind, we will neither need nor want doctors, teachers, accountants, architects, the clergy, consultants, lawyers, and many others, to work as they did in the 20th century. The Future of the Professions explains how 'increasingly capable systems' -- from telepresence to artificial intelligence -- will bring fundamental change in the way that the 'practical expertise' of specialists is made available in society. The authors challenge the 'grand bargain' -- the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals. They argue that our current professions are antiquated, opaque and no longer affordable, and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few. In their place, they propose six new models for producing and distributing expertise in society. The book raises important practical and moral questions. In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks, what are the prospects for employment, who should own and control online expertise, and what tasks should be reserved exclusively for people? Based on the authors' in-depth research of more than ten professions, and illustrated by numerous examples from each, this is the first book to assess and question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A significant portion of professional work in fact involves routine activities (Ford 2015(Ford , 2021;;Susskind andSusskind 2015, 2020)”
From Artificial intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences (2024) · cites this paper as Susskind and Susskind 2015
In the citing paper
“First, a detailed look at what professionals actually do challenges the assumption that work that appears more complex or requiring higher skills is necessarily equivalent with non routine work.”
From Artificial intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences (2024) · cites this paper as Susskind and Susskind 2015
Citations
Cites
Still being checked.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–300 of 933
The South African public service and the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Nhede, N. T., Mazenda, A., & Masiya, T. (2022) · Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review · doi:10.4102/apsdpr.v10i1.420 · Cited by 14
Renigier‐Biłozor, M., Źróbek, S., & Walacik, M. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su142013403 · Cited by 14
Friedman, A. L., & Afitska, N. (2023) · Journal of Professions and Organization · doi:10.1093/jpo/joad001 · Cited by 14
Teacher workload and the organisation of work: a research agenda for a post-pandemic future
Gavin, M., & McGrath‐Champ, S. (2024) · Labour & Industry a journal of the social and economic relations of work · doi:10.1080/10301763.2024.2357891 · Cited by 14
AI-Driven Leadership: A Conceptual Framework for Educational Decision-Making in the AI Era
Langeveldt, D. C. (2024) · E-Journal of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences · doi:10.38159/ehass.20245812 · Cited by 14
Farber, S. (2024) · International Journal of the Legal Profession · doi:10.1080/09695958.2024.2430018 · Cited by 14
The role of ICT s in the servitisation and degradation of IT professional work
Trusson, C., Hislop, D. W., & Doherty, N. F. (2018) · New Technology Work and Employment · doi:10.1111/ntwe.12109 · Cited by 14
Pustovrh, T., Mali, F., & Arnaldi, S. (2018) · NanoEthics · doi:10.1007/s11569-018-0332-y · Cited by 15
Mauk, M., Willett, R., & Coulter, N. (2020) · Learning Media and Technology · doi:10.1080/17439884.2020.1781889 · Cited by 14
Ryttberg, M., & Geschwind, L. (2021) · Tertiary Education and Management · doi:10.1007/s11233-020-09064-y · Cited by 14
Gardner, A. C., Maietta, H. N., Gardner, P. D., & Perkins, N. (2021) · Adult Learning · doi:10.1177/1045159520988361 · Cited by 23
Björkdahl, J., & Kronblad, C. (2021) · Journal of Professions and Organization · doi:10.1093/jpo/joab015 · Cited by 16
Classifications of college students’ protean and boundaryless orientation to work
Rojewski, J. W., Pisarik, C. T., & Han, H. (2017) · International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance · doi:10.1007/s10775-016-9337-7 · Cited by 14
Jeong, Y., & Leblebici, H. (2018) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/0018726718761552 · Cited by 14
Guest editors’ introduction: technological disruption and the future of employment relations
Healy, J., Nicholson, D., & Parker, J. (2017) · Labour & Industry a journal of the social and economic relations of work · doi:10.1080/10301763.2017.1397258 · Cited by 15
Reinforcing and innovating teacher professionalism
Mezza, A. (2022) · OECD education working papers · doi:10.1787/117a675c-en · Cited by 33
Kho, J. M., Spee, P., & Gillespie, N. A. (2019) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s0733-558x20190000061010 · Cited by 13
Ahuja, S., & Weatherall, R. (2022) · Gender Work and Organization · doi:10.1111/gwao.12921 · Cited by 13
One foot in the online gig economy: Coping with a splitting professional identity
Yao, Y. (2022) · Journal of Professions and Organization · doi:10.1093/jpo/joac015 · Cited by 13
Training and Skills Development Policy Options for the Changing World of Work
Jansen, A. J., White, L., Dhuey, E., Foster, D., & Perlman, M. (2019) · Canadian-American public policy · doi:10.3138/cpp.2019-024 · Cited by 14
Salgado-García, J. A., Terán-Bustamante, A., & González-Zelaya, V. (2024) · Iberoamerican Journal of Science Measurement and Communication · doi:10.47909/ijsmc.884 · Cited by 14
All Animals Learn, but Only Humans Teach: The Professional Place of Teacher Educators
Clarke, L., & McFlynn, P. (2019) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci9030192 · Cited by 13
The Business School of the Future
Lorange, P. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108555111 · Cited by 13
The fitness and survival of the OR profession in the age of artificial intelligence
Ormerod, R. J. (2020) · Journal of the Operational Research Society · doi:10.1080/01605682.2019.1650619 · Cited by 13
Navigating the maze: the effects of algorithmic management on employee performance
Liu, M., Lan, Y., Liu, Z., Liu, M., & Xia, Y. (2024) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-024-03453-z · Cited by 15
Silla, J. M. P., Martínez‐Tur, V., Nagorny-Koring, N. C., & Auch, C. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su13041737 · Cited by 13
Røhnebæk, M., & Løberg, I. B. (2021) · Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift · doi:10.18261/issn.1504-3053-2021-01-02-07 · Cited by 22
Kőműves, Z., Poór, J., Mura, L., Tóth, A., Varga, E., & Hollósy-Vadász, G. (2024) · Central European Business Review · doi:10.18267/j.cebr.367 · Cited by 12
Robots, gender economic opportunities and household adjustment: Evidence from China
Yu, S., Zhang, J., & Yan, X. (2024) · Structural Change and Economic Dynamics · doi:10.1016/j.strueco.2024.06.007 · Cited by 13
Nissi, R., Blåsjö, M., & Jonsson, C. (2021) · Applied Linguistics Review · doi:10.1515/applirev-2021-0052 · Cited by 12
The geography of job automation in Ireland: what urban areas are most at risk?
Crowley, F., & Doran, J. (2022) · The Annals of Regional Science · doi:10.1007/s00168-022-01180-4 · Cited by 12
Emslie, M., & Watts, R. (2017) · Social Service Review · doi:10.1086/692117 · Cited by 12
Towards Efficiently Provisioning 5G Core Network Slice Based on Resource and Topology Attributes
Li, X., Guo, C., Xu, J., Gupta, L., & Jain, R. K. (2019) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app9204361 · Cited by 12
Review of Joseph E. Aoun (2017). Robot Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Sudlow, B. J. (2018) · Postdigital Science and Education · doi:10.1007/s42438-018-0005-8 · Cited by 12
MacDonald, M., Wright, A. C., Taylor, A., Gillespie, K., & Collings, S. (2022) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcac140 · Cited by 19
Avnoon, N., & Oliver, A. L. (2023) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/20539517231210269 · Cited by 13
A Study of Legal Judgment Prediction Based on Deep Learning Multi-Fusion Models—Data from China
Wen, Y., & Ti, P. (2024) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/21582440241257682 · Cited by 11
Trajectories of legal work in the context of machine learning AI: conceptualising mediated evolution
Faulconbridge, J. (2025) · International Journal of the Legal Profession · doi:10.1080/09695958.2025.2458039 · Cited by 17
Building Trust in the Application of Machine Learning Algorithms for Rare Disease Diagnosis
Lembo, L., Barra, M., & Iriti, A. (2023) · Asian Journal of Ethics in Health and Medicine · doi:10.51847/mo7nxmibna · Cited by 11
Waltz, M., Juengst, E. T., Edwards, T., Henderson, G. E., Kuczynski, K. J., Conley, J. M., Della-Penna, P. L., & Cadigan, R. J. (2021) · The CRISPR Journal · doi:10.1089/crispr.2021.0038 · Cited by 11
Mapping the Issues of Automated Legal Systems: Why Worry About Automatically Processable Regulation?
Guitton, C., Tamò‐Larrieux, A., & Mayer, S. (2022) · Artificial Intelligence and Law · doi:10.1007/s10506-022-09323-w · Cited by 12
Probirskaja, S. (2017) · Translation Studies · doi:10.1080/14781700.2017.1289861 · Cited by 11
Expertise and the PhD: Between depth and a flat place
Barnacle, R., Schmidt, C., & Cuthbert, D. (2018) · Higher Education Quarterly · doi:10.1111/hequ.12181 · Cited by 11
The Impact of Technology on the Future of Human Learning
Bass, R. (2018) · Change The Magazine of Higher Learning · doi:10.1080/00091383.2018.1507380 · Cited by 11
Beyond Digital Inventions—Diffusion of Technology and Organizational Capabilities to Change
Kronblad, C., & Pregmark, J. E. (2019) · Perspectives in law, business and innovation · doi:10.1007/978-981-13-6086-2_5 · Cited by 11
Designing Accounting Futures: Exploring Ambiguity in Accounting Classrooms through Design Futuring
McGuigan, N., Ghio, A., & Kern, T. (2021) · Issues in Accounting Education · doi:10.2308/issues-2019-508 · Cited by 11
An Empathy Imitation Game: Empathy Turing Test for Care- and Chat-bots
Howick, J., Morley, J., & Floridi, L. (2021) · Minds and Machines · doi:10.1007/s11023-021-09555-w · Cited by 11
Blease, C., Kharko, A., Bernstein, M., Bradley, C., Houston, M., Walsh, I., & D Mandl, K. (2023) · JMIR Medical Education · doi:10.2196/42639 · Cited by 10
How AI is rewiring the human brain: the generational transformation of cognition and knowing
Westerbeek, H. M. (2026) · AI & Society · doi:10.1007/s00146-026-02912-2 · Cited by 14
How COVID-19 Has Changed the Digital Trajectory for Professional Advisory Firms
Kronblad, C., & Pregmark, J. E. (2021) · The ICT and Evolution of Work · doi:10.1007/978-981-33-4126-5_6 · Cited by 10
Jung, J. (2022) · Minerva · doi:10.1007/s11024-022-09473-w · Cited by 10
21st Century Teaching and Learning
Bayley, A. C. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70978-9_2 · Cited by 10
Computer Systems Fit for the Legal Profession?
Delacroix, S. (2018) · Legal Ethics · doi:10.1080/1460728x.2018.1551702 · Cited by 12
Soeiro, D. (2020) · Contributions to management science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-40390-4_5 · Cited by 10
Great expectations: millennial lawyers and the structures of contemporary legal practice
Bleasdale, L., & Francis, A. M. (2020) · Legal Studies · doi:10.1017/lst.2020.6 · Cited by 10
Researching With, On, In and Through the Postdigital: Accounting for More-Than-Humanness
Thompson, T. L. (2023) · Postdigital science and education · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-31299-1_13 · Cited by 9
Antonazzo, L., Stroud, D., & Weinel, M. (2023) · Economic and Industrial Democracy · doi:10.1177/0143831x231201002 · Cited by 10
Welfare state, social policy and social sustainability, within the context of the permacrisis
Papadakis, N., & Tzagkarakis, S. I. (2025) · Frontiers in Political Science · doi:10.3389/fpos.2024.1451406 · Cited by 9
Ferry, L., Midgley, H., & Ahrens, T. (2025) · Public Administration · doi:10.1111/padm.13062 · Cited by 12
Who is a journalist now? Recognising atypical journalism work in the digital media economy
Zion, L., Marjoribanks, T., & O’Donnell, P. (2022) · Media International Australia · doi:10.1177/1329878x221134207 · Cited by 9
Yarotskaya, L. V., & Aleynikova, D. V. (2023) · Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Психология и педагогика · doi:10.22363/2313-1683-2023-20-1-145-162 · Cited by 9
Samers, M. E. (2021) · Space and Polity · doi:10.1080/13562576.2021.1985856 · Cited by 11
Legal Business Model Digitalization: The Post COVID-19 Legal Industry
Hongdao, Q., Bibi, S., Mu, D., Khan, A., & Raza, A. (2022) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/21582440221093983 · Cited by 14
Walton‐Roberts, M. (2023) · Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies · doi:10.1080/15562948.2022.2153393 · Cited by 12
Gombrich, C. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-349-94892-5_6 · Cited by 9
Future medical education: Preparing, priorities, possibilities
Jason, H. (2018) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/0142159x.2018.1503412 · Cited by 9
Zhao, H. (2025) · Information Development · doi:10.1177/02666669251345458 · Cited by 11
Artificial intelligence and labor markets: evidence from google trends
Yilmazkuday, H. (2025) · Journal of economics and finance · doi:10.1007/s12197-025-09732-y · Cited by 9
The relationship between legal and design cultures: tension and resolution
Doherty, M. G. (2021) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781839107269.00010 · Cited by 8
Accepting automated news as “low-quality” journalism
Olsen, G. R. (2021) · Journalistica - Tidsskrift for forskning i journalistik · doi:10.7146/journalistica.v15i1.124985 · Cited by 8
News Reporting in Drone Internet of Things Digital Journalism
Nwanakwaugwu, A. C., Matthew, U. O., Okey, O. D., Kazaure, J. S., & Nwamouh, U. C. (2023) · International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies · doi:10.4018/ijicst.320181 · Cited by 8
Replace, absorb, serve: Data scientists talk about their aspired jurisdiction
Avnoon, N. (2023) · Current Sociology · doi:10.1177/00113921231166147 · Cited by 8
Bolojan, D., Yousif, S., & Vermisso, E. (2023) · Lecture notes in mechanical engineering · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-36922-3_13 · Cited by 8
Public participation in human genome editing research governance: what do scientists think?
Waltz, M., Flatt, M. A., Juengst, E. T., Conley, J. M., & Cadigan, R. J. (2024) · Journal of Community Genetics · doi:10.1007/s12687-024-00701-2 · Cited by 8
What Is the Value of Firms in an AI World?
Birkinshaw, J. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-20680-2_2 · Cited by 8
Many Ancient Greek Occupations, but Few Professions
Harris, E. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108878135.002 · Cited by 9
Rethinking Lifelong Learning in the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”
James, D., Sadik, S., & Brown, P. (2022) · Springer international handbooks of education · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-67930-9_49-1 · Cited by 9
Kurniawan, I. G. A. (2022) · Volksgeist Jurnal Ilmu Hukum dan Konstitusi · doi:10.24090/volksgeist.v5i2.6847 · Cited by 8
Changes in Legal Education in the Digital Society of Artificial Intelligence
Vučić, F. (2023) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-36833-2_12 · Cited by 8
The distinct effects of information technologies and communication technologies on skill demand
Blanas, S. (2023) · Industrial Relations A Journal of Economy and Society · doi:10.1111/irel.12350 · Cited by 9
Peer-to-peer work in the digital meaning society 2050
Ruotsalainen, J., Heinonen, S., Karjalainen, J., & Parkkinen, M. (2016) · European Journal of Futures Research · doi:10.1007/s40309-016-0092-2 · Cited by 8
Perceived professional competence of clinical research coordinators
Rojewski, J. W., Choi, I., Hill, J. R., Kwon, S. J., Choi, J., Kim, E., & McCauley, L. (2020) · Journal of Clinical and Translational Science · doi:10.1017/cts.2020.558 · Cited by 9
Heterogeneity Among Professions and Professionals
Parding, K., Bellini, A., & Maestripieri, L. (2021) · Professions and Professionalism · doi:10.7577/pp.4398 · Cited by 8
Adams, T. L. (2022) · Journal of Professions and Organization · doi:10.1093/jpo/joac018 · Cited by 8
Public Computing Intellectuals in the Age of AI Crisis
Connolly, R. W. (2024) · ACM Transactions on Computing Education · doi:10.1145/3703162 · Cited by 7
International alliance structure and effectiveness: evidence from law firms
Salvoldi, R., & Brock, D. (2023) · Journal of Management & Organization · doi:10.1017/jmo.2023.14 · Cited by 7
HCI driving alienation: autonomy and involvement as blind spots in digital ethics
Jungtäubl, M., Zirnig, C., & Ruiner, C. (2023) · AI and Ethics · doi:10.1007/s43681-023-00298-1 · Cited by 6
Kvirchishvili, L. (2024) · Springer proceedings in business and economics · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-66517-2_7 · Cited by 7
The Professionalization of Cyberinfrastructure Personnel?
Berente, N., Ahalt, S. C., Bottum, J., Brunson, D., Cutcher‐Gershenfeld, J., Howison, J., King, J. L., Neeman, H., Towns, J. W., Wilkins‐Diehr, N., et al. (2019) · Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing · doi:10.1145/3332186.3332225 · Cited by 7
The Climate Emergency and the Transformed School
White, J. (2020) · Journal of Philosophy of Education · doi:10.1111/1467-9752.12461 · Cited by 7
Liuski, T., & Ubani, M. (2020) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel11100540 · Cited by 7
Legal professionalism in a context of Uberisation
Thornton, M. (2021) · International Journal of the Legal Profession · doi:10.1080/09695958.2021.1901715 · Cited by 7
Re-thinking Public Health Education in Aotearoa New Zealand: Factory Model to Personalized Learning
Conn, C., Nayar, S., Williams, M. H., & Cammock, R. (2021) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.636311 · Cited by 7
The intricacies of power relations and digital technologies in organizational processes
Bruni, A., Miele, F., Pittino, D., & Tirabeni, L. (2021) · STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI · doi:10.3280/so2021-001001 · Cited by 7
Between Frustration and Invigoration: Women Talking about Digital Technology at Work
Mosseri, S., Vromen, A., Cooper, R., & Hill, E. (2022) · Work Employment and Society · doi:10.1177/09500170221091680 · Cited by 10
Scientists' Views on Scientific Self-Governance for Human Genome Editing Research
Cadigan, R. J., Waltz, M., Henderson, G. E., Conley, J. M., Davis, A. M., Major, R., & Juengst, E. T. (2022) · Human Gene Therapy · doi:10.1089/hum.2022.087 · Cited by 7
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Audit Efficiency and Risk Management Through Data Visualization
Ferdous, L. T., Singh, C., & Rana, T. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-19-4460-4_2 · Cited by 7
An evaluative conservative case for biomedical enhancement
Danaher, J. (2016) · Journal of Medical Ethics · doi:10.1136/medethics-2015-103307 · Cited by 7
Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s Creatives: Living, Learning and Earning in the Conceptual Age
McWilliam, E. (2016) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-10-1673-8_1 · Cited by 7
Turner, D., Landmann, M., & Kirkland, D. (2019) · Social Work Education · doi:10.1080/02615479.2019.1611758 · Cited by 7
Metadata
- Authors
- Susskind, R., & Susskind, D.
- ORCID
- Susskind, Daniel
- Venue
- Oxford University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Published
- 2015-10-22
- OpenAlex
- W4247188100
- Cited by
- 936
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 118 · 2025: 149 · 2024: 100 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 81 · 2021: 102 · 2020: 103 · 2019: 80 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 21
- FWCI
- 38.97
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Oxford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
- Keywords
- future of the profession, professional decline, artificial intelligence, telepresence, automation, Grand Bargain, professional monopoly, employment prospects, legal profession, medical profession, accounting profession, architectural profession
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review