Bostonglobe | In a recent Pew study,
72 percent of Americans report feeling either worried or very worried
about “a future where robots and computers can do many human jobs.”
Seventy-six percent believe that economic inequality will grow worse in
such a future.
As president of an institute with “technology” in
its name and national service in its mission, I take these concerns
seriously. Every past technology wave ultimately produced more jobs than
it destroyed and delivered important gains, from higher living
standards and life expectancy to productivity and economic growth. Yet
many fear that this time the change may be so fast and so vast, and its
impact so uneven and disruptive, that it may threaten not only
individual livelihoods, but the stability of society itself.
Fortunately,
this outcome is not inevitable — and the future is in our hands.
Indeed, deliberate, coordinated action is what smoothed such transitions
in the past. If we want the advance of technology to benefit everyone,
however, we need to take action right away: We must proactively and
thoughtfully reinvent the future of work.
Simply understanding the problem is a challenge; interestingly, experts
still disagree on exactly which groups and regions are losing jobs
primarily to automation, how quickly such impact will spread, and what
interventions can help. To build sound, long-term policy on something
this important, we cannot rely on anecdotes. Government, foundation, and
corporate leaders need to invest in better data now.
