AI, Automation, and Augmentation - Livestream

Will artificial intelligence replace human workers, or will it empower them? Tech leaders and economists have long warned that AI is fundamentally a "labor-replacing tool" destined to automate away millions of jobs. But this outcome is not inevitable - it reflects specific design choices, not technological fate.
This presentation challenges the prevailing automation narrative by recovering a neglected vision from the history of computing. Drawing on labor economics and the history of computing, this paper examines the distinction between automation (machines doing tasks for us) and augmentation (machines doing tasks with us). It argues that both the design choices of AI developers, the policy decisions of governments, and the adoption patterns of users will determine the effects of AI on labor and society.

Speaker: Rob Reich, Stanford University

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