Chapter I — From Compute to Actuators: The Emergence of Embodied Labor
Axiom 1: Production = Capital × Cognition × Embodiment.
In classical terms, production was a function of capital K, labor L, and technology A:
Y = f(K, L, A)
In the age of artificial intelligence, we decompose A into Compute (C) and Embodiment (E):
Y = f(K, C, E)
where C captures cognitive automation, and E captures physical automation — robots, drones, manipulators, humanoids. Humans no longer represent the sole stock of productive labor; they are one contributor within a broader embodied continuum.
Historical Analogies
Mechanization (1800s): Muscle replaced by machines.
Electrification (1900s): Continuous energy networks replaced steam and manual coordination.
Automation (1980s–2020s): Computation replaced clerical and cognitive tasks.
Embodiment (2020s–2030s): Physical work becomes programmable and self-replicating.
We are now entering the fourth frontier: the liquefaction of labor — the conversion of discrete, fixed labor inputs into continuous, scalable, redeployable embodied labor.