Return to Theory X: Artificial Slavery

The source, an essay titled "Return to Theory X: Artificial Slavery," critically analyses the modern workplace, arguing that progressive managerial theories such as Theory Y and Z were largely insincere attempts to move beyond the fundamentally distrustful Theory X framework. The author asserts that contemporary corporate culture has merely repackaged Theory X's belief in the inherent laziness of workers, replacing human surveillance with algorithmic control and AI monitoring. This regression is exemplified by the Return-to-Office crusade, which is presented as moral theatre designed to justify expensive office leases, and the growing reliance on Artificial Intelligence. The essay ultimately posits that AI represents the culmination of this control-driven mindset, creating a "digital plantation" where management seeks perfect, compliant, and unpaid digital labour while expecting human workers to accept their own obsolescence.