Autoergy

Autoergy is the capacity of work to do itself. Where energy is the capacity to do work, autoergy is the degree to which specified work can reach an accepted outcome without further human clarification. It is not automation, which repeats instructions; autoergic work closes the whole loop. A category created by Serban Mogos in July 2026, as part of the work of the MOGOS Collective. Read more at serban.ai/concepts/autoergy.

The definition

Energy is the capacity to do work. Autoergy is the capacity of work to do itself.

Formally: autoergy is a degree: how far specified work can be executed by a capable engine (human, AI, or hybrid) without further clarification, and still reach the accepted outcome.

What it is not

Automation repeats instructions. A script cannot notice, decide, or check, so a human stays at both ends of it, and the ends multiply. Autoergic work is different in kind: it notices what is needed, decides, acts, checks the result against what was asked, and comes back finished.

The loop

Work becomes autoergic when five things close into one loop: intent, inputs, tools, constraints, and acceptance. Where the loop closes, the human hours in it actually fall. Where it stays open, the human stays in it. Not all work closes: work that lives in a handshake, a bedside, or a negotiation crosses late or never.

The test

Hand the work to an executor who cannot ask you anything. If what comes back is what you meant, the work was truly specified.

Why it matters

When execution stops needing your hands, the scarce skill becomes wanting things clearly enough to hand them over. The point of autoergy is not less work; the point is what the returned time becomes; see Otium.

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A concept by Serban Mogos, from the work of the MOGOS Collective. Related: Otium ex machina · The Agentariat · The Docking Model.