Work in the age of artificial intelligence

Recent advances in AI have convinced a growing number of experts that these technologies will have a profound impact on the nature of work. But questions of the depth and breadth of this impact remain unanswered: Will AI support or replace workers? Which sectors will be most affected? Are there policies that can improve outcomes for workers in the age of AI?

On Thursday, April 25, the Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets hosted an event on the transformative impact of AI on labor markets. Panelists Daron Acemoglu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Daniel Susskind (Oxford University and King’s College London), and Russell Wald (Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence) began with a conversation moderated by Anton Korinek (University of Virginia) on the most recent advances in AI and their potential implications for the workforce. The panel then explored strategies for steering the labor market effects of AI in a desirable direction in the near term, focusing on policies and practices that can help workers adapt to changing job requirements and ensure that the benefits of AI are distributed broadly. Finally, the panel analyzed the medium- to long-term threat of AI reaching human-level capabilities, and examined how to maintain shared prosperity in a world in which labor markets may experience more fundamental disruption.

This event was a part of the Center on Regulation and Markets Series “The Economics and Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies.”

Viewers joined the conversation and ask questions of the speakers by emailing [email protected] and on X/Twitter using the hashtag #AIandLabor.