Artificial intelligence is the latest technology to raise the spectre of human labour becoming obsolete. AI technologies can now perform complex cognitive tasks that were once considered exclusively human. If businesses adopt these technologies at scale to replace human work, this could generate a significant productivity windfall – one that is likely to be unevenly distributed throughout society.
AI-driven automation is not a new economic phenomenon: throughout history, technological change has redefined the role of human labour in production. Some technologies have complimented the skills and creativity of workers, while others have undermined human labour and even replaced it altogether. The design of new technologies, and the way they are deployed by firms, determines whether technological progress results in shared prosperity or concentrates wealth in the hands of a minority.
Rebuilding worker power must be an urgent priority for a decade of progressive national renewal. AI’s distributional consequenc
