In an article co-authored with Brent Orrell and Suzette Kent, Ford School professor Jason Owen-Smith writes for FedScoop about the possible impacts AI and other technologies will have on US labor markets.
Owen-Smith compared new technologies like AI to the automation and trade innovations at the turn of the century which he says "increased general prosperity — but they also left lasting and concentrated negative consequences for some workers and communities, especially in the industrial heartland." He says, "While it’s too early to say for certain, new technologies like artificial intelligence may cause similar disruptions."
Owen-Smith writes, to "avoid reliving the painful lessons will require better labor market information." As a solution, he proposes more "prospective regional information to help employers, workers, and educational and training institutions make critical decisions with an eye on the future." He says the Federal statistical data we have now will be too general and focused on the past to best inform the labor markets during this "period of high-velocity technological change."
Additionally, he writes, "AI may have even larger effects, creating new types of work and making obsolete some of the job categories we use to understand the labor market. These effects will require extensive changes to education and training, including substantial upskilling for incumbent workers, to help our businesses and workers prepare for the opportunities and changes AI will bring."
"We are driving fast in the dark, and we need better headlights," says Owen-Smith.
