Economics Matters Ep. 10: Will AI Take Your Job with Mike Burt and Benjamin F. Jones

Published: Sept. 20, 2023, 5 a.m.

b'

Doomsday scenarios are the currency of the day when it comes to artificial intelligence\\u2019s impact on the jobs market.\\xa0 But technologists aren\\u2019t always that great at economic forecasting. To help us sort through the hype, we\\u2019re joined this episode by Mike Burt, Vice-President at the Conference Board of Canada and Benjamin F. Jones, Professor of Strategy at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois.\\xa0

Mike and Ben share their assessments of how artificial intelligence is impacting jobs\\u2014drawing a key distinction between whole jobs and the various tasks that make up a job.\\xa0 You\\u2019ll hear why the promise of this new technology represents a sea change in the way that economists have thought about the risks from job automation.\\xa0 You\\u2019ll hear what fears they think are real and whether they are optimistic that new technologies will help to address persistent challenges like Canada\\u2019s underperforming innovation sector or broader economic inequality.

About our guests:

Michael Burt is a Vice President at The Conference Board of Canada and leads our Education & Skills and Economic Forecasting knowledge areas. He is also the executive lead for the work CBoC does with the Future Skills Centre. In his role, Michael oversees the convening and research activities of these different areas. Michael has more than 20 years of experience conducting and leading research activities.

An economist by training, Professor Benjamin F. Jones studies the sources of economic growth in advanced economies, with an emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific progress.\\xa0 He also studies global economic development, including the roles of education, climate, and national leadership in explaining the wealth and poverty of nations.\\xa0 His research has appeared in journals such as Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the American Economic Review, and has been profiled in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and The New Yorker.

A former Rhodes Scholar, Professor Jones has served as the senior economist for macroeconomics for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.\\xa0 Professor Jones is a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he co-directs the Innovation Policy Working Group, a senior fellow of the Institute for Progress, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Additional information:
www.conferenceboard.ca\\xa0

'