Skills and Future of Work

Cities that are successfully scaling AI are investing in workforce upskilling alongside governance and technology deployment. Case studies from Washington, DC, San Jose, Seattle, and Cleveland show that employee training and AI literacy are critical to turning pilot projects into lasting improvements in public service delivery.

Echoing social capitalism, the encyclical gets technology and employment wrong, succumbing to the lump-of-labor fallacy and short-term protection over long-term progress.

South Korea produces large numbers of STEM graduates, but too many are attracted to medicine, and too few go into engineering. Korea should rebalance its education financing and university incentives to ensure that enough engineers are ready to work in advanced industries.

Proposals to tax AI computing power are proliferating as concerns about AI grow. But an AI compute tax would slow productivity growth, drive investment abroad, and do little to protect workers or preserve the tax base.

As AI-powered cyber threats become more advanced, the federal government should modernize the CyberCorps SFS program by integrating AI-security training, reforming cyber hiring pipelines, and expanding training infrastructure to build a stronger cybersecurity workforce.

As AI capabilities continue to advance, some people have begun raising concerns about the long-term implications for the tax base. But this concern is likely overstated. Policymakers should refrain from changing the tax base on the assumption that labor income will decline.

The U.S. education and workforce development system is ill-suited to winning the economic power industry war with China. It’s time for systemic reforms to produce students and workers with skills and capabilities that national power industries need.

In the AI economy, competitive advantage will depend less on memorizing information and more on the ability to question intelligent systems, identify errors, and refine outputs. Korea’s education system should adapt to prepare students for workplaces where managing AI-generated mistakes is more valuable than speed of recall.

Creative destruction drives growth but displaces workers. Governments shouldn’t stop it; they should support workers through the transition. The Nordic model shows it’s possible.

The Virtual Brunei Initiative shows how small nations can use immersive technology to build digital skills, promote cultural exchange, and drive economic growth through coordinated public-private partnerships.