Are we about to enter an age of leisure? Don't bet on it

Productivity gains won't necessarily translate into the embrace of free time - especially in America.

- Sarah O'Connor

The notion that artificial intelligence (AI) will usher in a future in which we only work three days a week might sound to many like a utopian dream. But some investors are betting good money on it.

Mr Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood talent agent and sports tycoon, last week said he had raised almost US$3 billion (S$3.9 billion) from investors for a new events venture, in a bet that Al would reduce the length of the work week and give people more free time to go to see live sports and music.

The idea that Al will lead to an explosion of leisure time was also cited as part of the rationale for September's US$55 billion takeover of video games company Electronic Arts by a Saudi-backed consortium.

Is this a good bet? The idea that technological progress can enable people to work fewer hours is not outlandish. Beginning in the 19th century, working hours in many industrial countries gradually reduced as economies grew richer. Indeed, this increase in leisure was "counted as one of the great blessings of technology", according to historian Benjamin Hunnicutt in his book Free Time.

The typical worker in the UK today, for example, works about half the number of hours per week their counterparts in the mid-19th century did.