Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to technologies that perceive, learn and reason in ways that simulate human cognitive abilities. TAP scholars consider AI’s effects on labor, business, policing, law, medicine, war, free speech, privacy and democracy, and discuss potential solutions to mitigate harms.
"There will be a substantial impact on the military because the capabilities of all kinds of systems will change and there will be an introduction of automation on a lot of different functions." — Edward Felten, Director, Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University
"We should have equivalent due-process protections for algorithmic decisions as for human decisions." — Kate Crawford, Co-founder, AI Now
"Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of the information infrastructure we rely on every day. Early-stage AI technologies are filtering into everything from driving directions to job and loan applications. ... Error-prone or biased artificial-intelligence systems have the potential to taint our social ecosystem in ways that are initially hard to detect, harmful in the long term and expensive—or even impossible—to reverse." — Kate Crawford, Co-founder, AI Now
"Autonomous systems are already deployed in our most crucial social institutions, from hospitals to courtrooms. Yet there are no agreed methods to assess the sustained effects of such applications on human populations." — Kate Crawford, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research and Ryan Calo, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington
"The big waves have been more structured work versus less structured work, with more structured work being automated faster and work that involves creativity and interpersonal skills as being more robust in the long run." — Erik Brynjolfsson, Professor of Economics and Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, MIT
"We need to move to a world where there is lifelong learning. You have to get rid of this idea that we go to school once when we’re young and that covers us for our career. ... Schools need to teach people how to learn, how to teach themselves if necessary." — James Bessen, Economist and Law Lecturer, Boston University
"The conclusion is that even if overall employment and wages recover, there will be losers in the process, and it’s going to take a very long time for these communities to recover." — Daron Acemoglu, Professor of Economics, MIT
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TAP Academics
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TAP Blog
Economists Susan Athey, Stanford, and Daron Acemoglu, MIT, will be testifying at today’s House Budget Committee hearing on artificial intelligence and the workforce.
September 10, 2020
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Upcoming Events
The Future of Work(ers): Using Technology to Empower Workers in the Age of AI and Automation
September 29, 2020, Berkeley, CA
Shaanan Cohney – Leaving Randomness to Chance: Standards Shortcomings and Buried Backdoors in Random Number Generators
September 29, 2020,
Tal Zarsky – When Small Change Makes a Big Difference: Algorithmic Equity Among Similarly Situated Individuals
October 20, 2020,
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Fact Sheets
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to technologies that perform learning and reasoning in ways that simulate human cognitive abilities.
Featured Article
Some predict that economic growth will slow in countries with rapidly aging populations. But data shows that firms respond to scarcity of middle-aged workers by automating. These firms become more productive.
March 1, 2018
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