AI-based Future Work Self Salience (AI-FWSS): Developing a scale to capture future career selves in human–AI collaboration

Original title: AI-based Future Work Self Salience (AI-FWSS): Skalenentwicklung zur Messung beruflicher Zukunftsbilder in der Mensch–KI-Kollaboration.

Authors: Anne-Kathrin Kleine, M. P. Fladerer, Eva Lermer, and Karoline Strauss (ESSEC Business School)

Future work self salience describes how clear and easy to imagine a person’s hoped-for future self at work is (Strauss, Griffin, & Parker, 2012). A salient future work self motivates proactive career behavior, which matters all the more when work itself is changing. As AI systems take over tasks and become collaborators, people need to develop an idea of who they want to be at work together with AI.

In this talk, we presented the development of the AI-FWSS scale, a measure of future work self salience that is specific to human–AI collaboration. The project builds on our meta-analysis of future work self salience (currently under review) and on joint work with Karoline Strauss, who introduced the future work self construct.

Related: Future work selves – talk at UiT Tromsø (2025)