The Technology COMPAS Program presents Anna Salomons on "Robocalypse Now — Does Technology Threaten Employment?"
Rapid advances in machine capabilities have raised public concerns that human labor is becoming obsolete— but are these fears becoming a reality? Canonical economic theory says no, but much recent economic theory says ‘maybe’— that is, the demand for labor may be reduced as technology increasingly encroaches on human job tasks. This talk will provide an overview of the debate and show empirical evidence of the labor market impacts of technological progress. In doing so, it considers the effects of advancing technology on overall employment, on the availability of jobs for workers of different skill types, and on wage inequality.
Anna Salomons is Professor of Employment and Inequality at Utrecht University. At this time she is a visiting faculty fellow at Boston University's Technology & Research Policy Initiative.
This event is funded by the Dreher Chair in Political Communication and Policy Thinking.
