How does technological change affect social policy preferences? We advance this lively debate by focusing on the role of dual vocational education and training (VET). Existing literature would lead us to expect that dual VET increases demand for compensatory social policy and magnifies the effect of automation risk on such demands. In contrast, we contend that dual VET weakens demand for compensatory social policy through three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that we refer to as (i) material self-interest; (ii) workplace socialization; and (iii) skill certification. We further hypothesize that dual VET mitigates the association between automation risk and social policy preferences. Analyzing cross-national individual data from the European Social Survey and national-level data on education systems, we find strong evidence for our argument. The paper advances the debate on social policy preferences in the age of automation and sheds new light on the relationship between skill formation and social policy preferences.

Administrative burden describes the learning costs, psychological costs, and compliance costs people face when attempting to interface with the government, particularly in seeking a benefit. Algorithmic and automated processes offer the potential of reducing administrative burdens, but scant empirical research has determined to what, if any effect. This study uses the case of criminal record expungement in two policy contexts: traditional, court petition-based systems and newly enacted automated systems, to understand if and how administrative burden persists, and whether and how these burdens operate differently in the context of the criminal legal system. Drawing on interviews with 105 expungement-eligible people, we find that while automated expungement schemes shift the burden from petitioner to state to initiate the process, automation inadvertently creates new administrative burdens via failure to notify, partial clearances, and opaque data processes. Furthermore, respondents described how automation failed to provide a sense of confirmation from the state that their sentence was truly completed, rehabilitation had been acknowledged, or that collateral consequences should no longer wield the same power. Overall, we argue that leveraging automation to reduce burdens must include information availability by design; otherwise policy reforms may fail to fully achieve their goals.

The exponential growth of scientific literature poses increasing challenges for evidence synthesis. Systematic reviews (SRs) usually rely on keyword-based database searches, which are limited by inconsistent terminology and indexing delays. Citation searching—identifying studies that cite or are cited by known relevant articles—offers a complementary route to uncover additional evidence but remains poorly automated and integrated into screening workflows. We developed BibliZap, an open-source, fully automated citation-searching tool built on Lens.org data, performing multi-level forward and backward citation searches with relevance-based ranking. Its performance was evaluated across 66 published SRs, comparing five approaches: (1) PubMed-only searches; (2) PubMed followed by BibliZap restricted to the top 500 ranked results; (3) PubMed followed by full BibliZap screening; and (4–5) two exploratory early-stop strategies where BibliZap was initiated after identifying the first or the first three PubMed relevant records. The primary outcome was sensitivity, with secondary assessments of screening workload and precision. When used after PubMed screening, BibliZap increased mean sensitivity from 75% to 97%, achieving complete recall in over half of the reviews. Screening only the top 500 outputs still allowed over 90% of reviews to reach or exceed 80% recall. BibliZap recovered a median of three additional included articles per review, not retrieved by PubMed, while adding a median of 6,450 additional records. Citation searching via BibliZap enhances the completeness of evidence retrieval in SRs based on restricted database searches and supports transparent, scalable workflows adaptable to rapid and exploratory review contexts.

We examine long‐run effects of automation risk on turnout. We expect gendered negative effects because men's turnout is more sensitive to job loss and earnings, but negative effects might be offset by populist right‐wing mobilization on economic grievances. We rely on population‐wide administrative data to avoid well‐known biases in survey data. We find both men and women with high automation risk to suffer in the labour market, but automation risk is associated with lower turnout for men only. The negative association with turnout is weaker where the populist right is stronger, consistent with mobilization on economic grievances. Finally, we show experimentally that priming of automation risk produces null findings, suggesting that risks need to have material consequences to affect political behaviour. Our findings imply that technological change has contributed to the emergence of gender gaps in turnout and populist voting as well as the participation drop among the working class.

Accurate radiation dose measurement is crucial for medical intervention and protective actions. Biological dose assessment directly measures radiation-induced molecular and physiological changes, providing information about the absorbed dose and potential health risks. The Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) has performed biological dosimetry using cytogenetic assays since 2010. These assays are used for individual dose estimation in various situations, including occupational exposure, accidental radiation exposure, and health risk assessment of people living near nuclear power plants in Korea. Recent advancements in biological dose assessment methods, such as automated scoring and high-throughput assays, have improved efficiency and enabled more people to undergo dose assessment. The KIRAMS continuously explores new methods and targets for biodosimetry to enhance dose assessment capabilities and can contribute to expand the biological dose assessment capacity with the expertise and facilities, responding to large-scale accidents of radiation exposure in the world.

Monsters may frighten but also fascinate us in their weird and unfamiliar ways. As Gramsci once observed, periods of radical transformation are also times of monsters. AI fits the description. It is a bewildering entity, consisting of hard - and software, depending on infrastructures that need huge amounts of energy and water. It defies clear definition, yet seeps into every corner of our lives. Big Tech warns of existential risks while pursuing Artificial General Intelligence, AGI. However, real challenges today lie in how AI threatens to substitute rather than augment human capabilities.

This essay examines the deployment of an AI-based interdisciplinary approach. It has proven spectacularly successful, as exemplified by AlphaFold2's breakthrough in protein folding. This approach operates frictionlessly, combining knowledge domains with remarkable efficiency and speed. It seems to vindicate a technocratic dream of problem-solving without the messiness and time needed for human deliberation. Yet, when this artificial interdisciplinarity enters the social world, it encounters what it seeks to eliminate: friction.

Friction, however, is not an obstacle to overcome but an essential feature of human existence. The physical world requires friction for movement; the social world needs it for creativity, conflict resolution, and meaningful cooperation. Certainly, too much friction can bring havoc, and too little can lead to a standstill. But as AI continues its co-evolutionary trajectory with humanity, we must resist the seductive promise of a frictionless world run by automated efficiency.

Instead, we need to cultivate a humanistic culture of AI interdisciplinarity - one that bridges sciences and humanities while preserving human curiosity, deliberation, and epistemic diversity. Bringing friction back means taking the time to reconsider shared goals, acknowledging conflicts, and maintaining spaces for genuine human creativity. Only by embracing friction can we ensure that AI augments rather than diminishes what makes us human.

The ability to modify designs, personalize nutrition, and improve food sustainability makes 3D food printing (3DFP) an exciting emerging technology. Food materials’ complex chemistry and mechanics make it difficult to consistently print designs of different shapes. This research uses two methods to assess printed food fidelity: Manual and automated image analysis with custom-developed algorithm. Fidelity based on printed area was measured for three overhang designs (0°, 30°, and 60°) and three food ink mixtures. The manual method provided a baseline for analysis by comparing printed images with CAD images. Both methods showed consistent results with only ±3% differences in analyzing printed design areas. While the computational method offers advantages for efficiency and bias reduction, making it well-suited for fidelity assessment to assess designs.

The offshoring-fuelled growth of the Central and Eastern European business services sector gave rise to shared service centres (SSCs) – quasi-autonomous entities providing routine-intensive tasks for the central organisation. The advent of technologies such as intelligent process automation, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence jeopardises SSCs’ employment model, necessitating workers’ skills adaptation. The study challenges the deskilling hypothesis and reveals that automation in the Polish SSCs is conducive to upskilling and worker autonomy. Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews, we highlight the negotiated nature of automation processes shaped by interactions between headquarters, SSCs, and their workers. Workers actively participated in automation processes, eliminating the most mundane tasks. This resulted in upskilling, higher job satisfaction, and empowerment. Yet, this phenomenon heavily depends upon the fact that automation is triggered by labour shortages, which limit the expansion of SSCs. This situation encourages companies to leverage the specific expertise entrenched in their existing workforce. The study underscores the importance of fostering employee-driven automation and upskilling initiatives for overall job satisfaction and quality.

Commercial cattle slaughter operations have shown an increasing trend towards automation, with the aim being to improve animal welfare, product quality and efficiency. Several cattle slaughter plants have introduced mechanical rump pushers (RP) prior to the entrance of the stun box to reduce human-animal interaction and facilitate a smoother transition from the raceway to stun box. Presently, there are no data regarding the use of RPs in commercial slaughter environments operating at 40 cattle per hour. Therefore, this study observed normal operations at a UK slaughter plant, which has an RP installed, and assessed the level of coercion required to enter the RP, the use of the RP, cattle behaviour inside the RP and carcase bruising. The RP was used on 267 of the 815 cattle observed (32.8%) and was more likely to be used on dairy cattle and those who received a higher coercion score when entering the RP. Overall, 60 cattle (7.4%) required the highest coercion score and four (0.49%) required the use of the electric goad. Inside the RP, eleven animals slipped (1.8%) and ten vocalised (1.6%) although no incidences were directly associated with RP use. However, increased time restrained in the RP was significantly associated with more gate slams into the RP entrance gate. The use of the RP was not significantly associated with carcase bruising. These results are encouraging, and although it cannot be concluded that the presence of an RP improves cattle welfare at slaughter, use of automation within cattle slaughter facilities warrants further investigation.

This study examines the association between firm-level investments in automation technologies and employment outcomes, drawing on a panel dataset of approximately 10,450 Italian firms. We focus on the proliferation of non-standard labour contracts introduced by labour market reforms in the 2000s, which facilitated external labour flexibility. Our findings reveal a positive relationship between automation investments and the adoption of these flexible labour arrangements. Guided by a conceptual framework, we interpret this result as evidence of complementarity between automation technologies – viewed as flexible capital – and non-standard contractual arrangements – viewed as flexible labour. This complementarity is essential for enhancing operational flexibility, a critical driver of firm performance in competitive market environments. From a policy perspective, our analysis highlights the importance of measures that protect labour without undermining the efficiency gains enabled by automation.