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The Promise and Peril of Technology’s Impact on Labor

About this initiative

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other new technologies are fundamentally transforming global economies and labor markets, presenting urgent challenges and significant opportunities. The AI and The Future of Employment & Income Roundtable, organized by The Future US in association with a committee of expert co-hosts and led by technology expert Jim Clark, will be a virtual convening of top experts to explore ways to harness AI’s potential for societal benefit while mitigating its disruptive impacts on individuals, communities, nations, and civilization.


Urgent Issues and Opportunities

Tap a crystal ball for a deeper look

Technological Unemployment

AI-driven automation threatens to displace millions of jobs across various sectors. While automation can lead to increased economic growth, it poses significant risks to workers who may find their skills obsolete. The speed and scale of this displacement will create an urgent need to rethink almost all aspects of employment, income, education, training, job creation, labor policy, and possibly even the structure of national and global economies and individual life paths.


Income Inequality

The rise of AI could worsen income inequality. While high-skilled workers may benefit the most from technological advancements, many others, regardless of skill level, may struggle to keep up with unpredictable, large-scale changes. There is a pressing need to develop forward-thinking policies that ensure equitable distribution of AI's benefits and offer sustainable protection from the harshest aspects of such a massive societal transition.

Work Redefinition

AI is not only changing the types of jobs but also how work itself is defined and valued. This redefinition requires a reassessment of employment laws, labor rights, and workplace norms to protect workers in an AI-dominated future, while also considering how AI can provide new ways to help employers thrive ethically and fairly.

Economic Opportunities

AI-driven automation threatens to displace millions of jobs across various sectors. While automation can lead to increased efficiency and economic growth, it poses significant risks to workers who may find their skills obsolete. This displacement will occur likely at a speed and on a scale that creates an urgent need to rethink almost all aspects of employment, income, education, training, job creation, labor policy, and perhaps even the nature and structure of not only individual’s life paths but also national economies and the global economy as a whole.

AI + The Future of Employment & Income Virtual Roundtable Co-Hosts

Gary Marcus

Professor
NYU, Robust.AI, Geometric.AI, Author of Rebooting AI

Jon Leland

Former Resilience Director
Co-founder, WorkFour; Former CSO, Kickstarter

Victoria Houed

Director
AI Policy and Strategy, U.S. Department of Commerce

Jim Clark

Lead
AI & The Future of Employment & Income Initiative, The Future US

Nouriel Roubini

Economist
Professor Emeritus, NYU Stern School of Business

Erik Brynjolfsson

Director
Stanford Digital Economy Lab

Genny Mayhew

Founder
CTO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Wesley Yin

Chief Economist
Professor, Strategy, UCLA School of Management; Professor, Economics, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Meet the visionaries shaping The Future US

Maia Monell
Co-Founder, Nav.it
Ian Seltzer
Principal, Pierce Yates Ventures
Ory Rinat
CEO, Urban Legend, Former White House Chief Digital Officer
Zoe Weinberg
Founder, ex/ante
Josh Balk
CEO, Accountability Board
Jiore Craig
Head of Elections, Institute for Strategic Dialogue
Dan Prieto
Former Cybersecurity Director, NSC, The White House
Sam Engelbardt
Co-Founder, Galaxy Interactive
Desmond Meade
President, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition
Tom Chi
Co-Founder, Google X, At One Ventures
Jen Pahlka
Author, Co-Founder, Code for America, US Digital Response
Amy McGrath
Founder, Honor Bound & Candidate for US Senate, Kentucky
Margaret Knowles
Vice President, Enable Ventures
Sean Shadmand
CTO, InQTel
Octavia Abell
Founder, Govern For America
De Kai
Professor, Board Member, UC Berkeley & The Future Society
Billy Watterson
Executive Director, Galaxy Gives
Dhruva Rajendra
Co-Founder, Latch
Jon Leland
Former Resilience Director, Co-founder, WorkFour; Former CSO, Kickstarter
Victoria Houed
Director of AI Policy and Strategy, U.S. Department of Commerce
Jeff Seltzer
Managing Partner, Pierce Yates Ventures
Ronit Kanwar
Director of Partnerships, Schmidt Futures
Andrew Yang
Fmr. Presidential Candidate, Forward Party
Paul Miller
Creative Producer, DJ Spooky
Scott Santens
Founder, Income to Support All & Author, Let There Be Money
X. Eyeé
Founder, Malo Santo, Fmr. Responsible AI & Innovation at Google
Regina Kline
Founder, Managing Partner, Enable Ventures
Danielle Allen
Founder, Professor, Partners in Democracy, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation Harvard, Fmr. Mass Gubernatorial candidate
Shomik Dutta
Co-Founder, Managing Partner, Overture Climate VC
Chelsea Peters
Co-Founder, Full Impact Advisory, Fmr. Deputy Executive Director @ Walton Family Foundation
Spotlight

A look at our process

Deploying tomorrow's breakthroughs to shape policy today. Our process is guided by 100+ technologists, CEOs, civil society experts, investors, former senior government officials, best-selling authors, researchers, media personalities, and other leaders.

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Expert Survey

A pre-event survey sent to leading experts seeks to gather insights to be used in the planning for the Roundtable, foster a shared understanding among key participants, and gather invaluable input to inform future actions.

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Virtual Roundtable

The roundtable will serve as the centerpiece of the initiative, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss Al's impact on employment and income. It will feature expert presentations, panel discussions, and collaborative exercises aimed at starting to frame actionable strategies.This event will kick off a series of efforts focused on policy development and coalition building.

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Policy Lab

Following the virtual meeting, a summary report will be prepared and distributed, highlighting key challenges, opportunities, and next steps. Some of the most effective and contributive participants will be invited to join a more formal working group to advance the initiative, seeking to catalyze legislative and other policy action by others. A full-fledged "Policy Lab" will be held in Fall 2024, including in-person meetings to develop a more granular set of actionable strategies and policy recommendations.

About the Future U.S.

The Future US (TFUS) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. It aims to be DC's crystal ball, forecasting tech disruptions to future-proof America. TFUS, co-founded by innovators such as Miles Taylor (former Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security), Lara Stein (founder of TEDx), Evan Burfield (co-founder of 1776), and Xander Schultz (founder of One for Democracy), co-creates solutions for the country’s biggest problems through action-oriented Policy Labs. In addition to the co-founders, the organization is advised by a diverse group of technologists, CEOs, civil society experts, investors, and former officials, including Mark Harvey, former Resilience Director at the National Security Council, The White House; Tom Malinowski, John S. McCain Senior Fellow, McCain Institute; former Congressman, US House of Representatives; and Karen Minkel, Philanthropy Director at Lever for Change (MacArthur Foundation).

About Jim Clark

Jim Clark is an organizer of catalytic coalitions and a recognized authority on the future societal implications of science and technology innovation, including technological unemployment and AI governance. In addition to a wide variety of high-level projects in the nonprofit sector, business, politics, policy, and other areas of social impact, he has convened numerous high-profile gatherings of some of the most influential people in the world, including as founder and executive chairman for over two decades (1997-2021) of the World Technology Network. Such gatherings included not only the annual World Technology Summit & World Technology Awards held in association with TIME, Fortune, CNN, and many other leading partners, but also more focused meetings such as the World Summit on Technological Unemployment (2015) and the International Congress for the Governance of AI (co-convenor, 2018-2021).

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