Overview
This U.S. Council of Economic Advisers report examines how AI and automation could affect productivity, jobs, wages, skills, and public policy.
This title is catalogued in Science, Space & Engineering. Its reading profile is Short and Advanced, with themes including automation, jobs, artificial intelligence, economy, policy.
One-Page Summary
Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy examines how advances in machine learning and automation could affect productivity, jobs, wages, skills, and inequality. The report distinguishes among several effects rather than assuming that every task performed by humans will simply be replaced. Some technologies substitute for particular kinds of labor; others complement workers, create new tasks, or increase demand by lowering costs and expanding production. The report therefore treats technological change as an economic transition in which the distribution of benefits and disruption depends on which occupations are exposed, how quickly firms adopt new systems, and how effectively workers can move into changing roles.
It also discusses the possibility that productivity gains may increase overall output while still producing concentrated losses for people whose tasks become automated. Education, training, labor-market adjustment, research, and competition policy therefore become part of the technological question. The report is a policy document from the mid-2010s, so its forecasts should be read in that historical context rather than as a description of today’s AI capabilities. What remains valuable is the framework. AI is not treated as a magical technology operating outside the economy.
It is introduced through firms, workers, investment decisions, institutions, and markets. That makes the book useful for understanding why technological progress can simultaneously create wealth and create uncertainty. Its central question is not whether automation is “good” or “bad,” but how societies can capture productivity gains while helping people navigate the disruption that comes with changing technology.
Key Themes
Automation: This title is tagged with automation as one of its main themes.
Jobs: This title is tagged with jobs as one of its main themes.
Artificial intelligence: This title is tagged with artificial intelligence as one of its main themes.
Economy: This title is tagged with economy as one of its main themes.
Policy: This title is tagged with policy as one of its main themes.
Science: This title is tagged with science as one of its main themes.