WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / July 22, 2024 / The Future US successfully hosted the highly anticipated AI & The Future of Employment & Income Virtual Roundtable on July 11, bringing together a carefully curated group of leading experts to discuss the transformative impacts of AI on employment and income. The event featured a series of insightful presentations, panel discussions, and collaborative exchanges aimed at framing actionable policy strategies.
Jim Clark, Lead of The Future of Employment & Income at The Future US, opened the roundtable by highlighting the session's objectives and sharing findings from a pre-event survey. "This virtual roundtable marks a critical step in addressing the complex challenges posed by AI to our workforce," Clark emphasized. "Our goal is to catalyze meaningful policy action that supports workers and fosters sustainable economic growth in an AI-driven future."
The event featured dynamic discussions on how AI is reshaping the digital economy and the future of work. Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the Digital Economy Lab at Stanford University, highlighted AI's transformative potential, likening it to the impact of the steam engine and electricity. "AI has the potential to be as transformative as electricity, but we need to ensure it benefits everyone, not just a few," Brynjolfsson noted.
Gary Marcus, Professor Emeritus at NYU, offered a critical perspective on the limitations of current AI technologies, addressing the risks of disinformation and AI winter. "The systems that we have hallucinate, they're unreliable... There's a risk of another AI winter," Marcus warned.
Panel discussions delved into AI's role in economic inequality and job displacement. Heidi Shierholz, President of the Economic Policy Institute, emphasized the need for policies that bolster worker leverage. "Technological change has largely been a friend of working people... The imbalance of power between workers and employers, not technology itself, is the issue," Shierholz asserted. Genny Mayhew, CTO of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), stressed the importance of collective bargaining to protect workers from AI's negative impacts.
Innovative income models and new work structures were explored in a fireside chat with Jon Leland, Former Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter, and Scott Santens, Founder and President of Income To Support All Foundation. Leland highlighted the value of time as a form of wealth, while Santens advocated for Universal Basic Income, stating, "We should treat everyone like stockholders of AI."
Ethical implications of AI were discussed by Joanna Bryson, Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School, and Ben Shneiderman, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. Bryson emphasized the need for regulation to protect workers' rights from surveillance, while Shneiderman advocated for participatory design processes to enhance human capabilities.
Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT, provided insights into AI's economic impacts, underscoring the need for policy interventions to support workers. "Using AI to enable people without four-year college degrees to do high value-added decision-making work would be augmenting... We need to invest in augmentation to help workers move up into higher-paying jobs," Acemoglu advised.
"This roundtable is just the beginning of a concerted effort to ensure that AI advancements lead to inclusive and equitable economic growth," remarked Xander Schultz, CEO of The Future US. "We are committed to driving forward the ideas and policies discussed today to make a real impact."
Full List of Presenters: The event showcased a distinguished lineup of speakers, including Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the Digital Economy Lab at Stanford University; Gary Marcus, Professor Emeritus at NYU; Heidi Shierholz, President of the Economic Policy Institute; Genny Mayhew, CTO of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Wesley Yin, Professor of Strategy at UCLA School of Management and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs; Jon Leland, Former Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter and Co-founder of WorkFour; Scott Santens, Founder and President of Income To Support All Foundation; Joanna Bryson, Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School; Ben Shneiderman, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland; Alex Swartsel, Managing Director, Insights at Jobs for the Future (JFF) Labs; Elizabeth Kiehner, Chief Growth Officer at Nortal; Matthew Stepka, Managing Partner at Machina Ventures; Rob Johnson, President of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET); Victoria Houed, Senior Advisor for Innovation at the Department of Commerce; and Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT.
About The Future US
Located in Washington D.C., The Future US is a nonpartisan, dynamic design thinking platform that brings innovators and Washington leaders together to ensure America prepares for rising threats and seizes new opportunities.
About The Future US: The Future of Employment & Income initiative
The AI & The Future of Employment & Income initiative - led by Jim Clark, a successful organizer of catalytic coalitions, a serial social entrepreneur, and an authority on the societal implications of science and technology - brings together participants from a wide array of labor organizations, tech companies, civil society groups, think tanks, academic research institutions, and innovation hubs that are actively engaged in addressing the implications of AI on the workforce. The initiative is focused on forecasting the transformative impacts of AI on employment and income, identifying both challenges and opportunities, and offering insights and actionable policy recommendations to support workers in an AI-driven economy. The initiative aims to foster collaboration and catalyze substantial policy momentum to ensure equitable economic growth in the face of rapid technological advancements.
CONTACT:
Lara Stein, Chief Innovation Officer, The Future US
Email: lara@thefuture.us
SOURCE: Future US
View the original press release on accesswire.com
