The question of who actually benefits from a productivity gain.
In an AI context, if a developer produces ten times more output using AI tools, value capture describes whether that surplus flows to the employer (in the form of more work for the same pay), to the employee (in the form of reduced hours for the same pay), or is divided somewhere in between. The term frames productivity improvements not as neutral gains but as contested resources, with company and worker pulling in opposite directions over who keeps the benefit.
In an AI context, if a developer produces ten times more output using AI tools, value capture describes whether that surplus flows to the employer (in the form of more work for the same pay), to the employee (in the form of reduced hours for the same pay), or is divided somewhere in between. The term frames productivity improvements not as neutral gains but as contested resources, with company and worker pulling in opposite directions over who keeps the benefit.
