Advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation have triggered a growing sense of unease that jobs and the nature of work itself are in flux in today’s economy. People worry that if they lose their jobs they either won’t be able to find new ones that are as good or won’t be qualified for the new positions that companies need to fill. They worry that their children won’t enjoy the same standards of living that they have. And most of all, they worry that technology and trade are conspiring to kill more jobs than they create.

This last issue is of particular concern, because it fuels anxiety that could press policymakers to “save jobs” by limiting globalization and technological innovation. In fact, there is now a widespread view, not just among disgruntled populists but also among policymaking elites, that technological innovation will only speed up and thereby destroy tens of millions of jobs, impoverish workers who are left behind, and enrich only a lucky few at the top. This is an erroneous narrative, but it is nonetheless increasingly taken for granted as the truth.

ITIF’s @Work series is dedicated to demystifying and demythologizing these issues and proposing necessary, actionable policy responses. Among the topics ITIF is exploring: How has technology changed the labor market historically and how will it drive change in the future? What is the effect of technology-driven productivity on jobs and wages? Where are the new jobs likely to come from, what skills will they require, and what are the specific steps policymakers should take to reform the country’s workforce training and employment systems?

Featured

• Statement to the US Senate AI Insight Forum on “AI and the Workforce,” by Robert D. Atkinson, November 2023.
• “Ten Facts About the State of the Economy for U.S. Workers Without College Degrees,” by Caleb Foote and Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, December 2019).
• “Robotics and the Future of Production and Work,” by Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, October 2019).
• “The Case Against Taxing Robots,” Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, April 2019).
• “The Future of Work: A Guide for Transatlantic Policymakers,” by Robert D. Atkinson and Jeffrey Brown (ITIF and the Bertelsmann Foundation Report, December 2018).
• “Which Nations Really Lead in Industrial Robot Adoption?” by Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, November 2018).
• “Don’t Fear AI,” by Robert D. Atkinson for the European Investment Bank, June 15, 2018.
• “Work in the Digital Age: Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Policy Network, April 25, 2018.
• “How G7 Nations Can Support and Prepare for the Next Technology Wave,” by Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, March 2018).
• “How to Reform Worker-Training and Adjustment Policies for an Era of Technological Change,” Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, February 2018).
• “Testimony Before the Little Hoover Commission on Economic and Labor Force Implications of Artificial Intelligence,” by Robert D. Atkinson, January 25, 2018.
• “False Alarmism: Technological Disruption and the U.S. Labor Market, 1850–2015,” by Robert D. Atkinson and John Wu (ITIF, May 2017).
• “Robots, Automation, and Jobs: A Primer for Policymakers,” by Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, May 2017).
• “‘It’s Going to Kill Us!’ and Other Myths About the Future of Artificial Intelligence,” by Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, June 2016).

Further Reading

• “Yes, America Should Automate Dock Work,” by Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF Innovation Files commentary, October 2024.
• “The Case for Immersive Tech in Apprenticeship Programs,” by Juan Londoño (ITIF, 2023).
• “How MIT’s “Work of the Future” Project Gets It Wrong: Raising Taxes on Machinery and Software Would Kill Jobs and Hamper Wage Growth,” by Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF Innovation Files commentary, October 2020.
• “How Automation Expands Opportunities for Human Labor,” ITIF Innovation Files podcast, with special guest James Bessen, August 2020.
• “All Productivity Is Good: Even Automation,” by Robert D. Atkinson, American Compass, July 2020.
• “The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get,” by Robert D. Atkinson and David Moschella (ITIF, November 2019).
• “Relax. Robots Won't Cause Us to Run Out of Jobs,” by Robert D. Atkinson, RealClearPolicy, January 2019.
• “A Brief History of Our Allegedly Doomed Technological Future,” by Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF Innovation Files commentary, July 2018.
• “A Tax on Robots Is a Tax on Jobs,” by David Beier and Robert D. Atkinson, Inside Sources, November 2017.
• “I Object, Your Honor: Pew Is Leading the Witness (and Confirming Its Own Bias) in Its Survey on Automation and Jobs,” by Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF Innovation Files commentary, October 2017.
• “Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and the Future of Work: Myths and Facts,” by Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF Innovation Files commentary, September 2017.
• “Sound the Alarm: Robots Are Disrupting (Far Too Few) Jobs,” by Robert D. Atkinson and John Wu, Brink, June 2017.
• “13 Things to Know About How Automation Impacts Jobs,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Huffington Post, May 2017.
• “In Defense of Robots,” by Robert D. Atkinson, National Review, April 2017.
• “Confusion About Job Creation Is Obscuring Productivity Crisis,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Christian Science Monitor, December 2016.
• “More Learning at Lower Costs for Colleges,” by Joe Kennedy, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 2016.
• “Why It’s Time to Disrupt Higher Education by Separating Learning From Credentialing,” by Joe Kennedy, Daniel Castro, and Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, August 2016).
• “5 Myths About the Future of AI,” by Robert D. Atkinson, The Huffington Post, July 2016.
• “The U.S. Labor Market Is Far More Stable Than People Think” by John Wu and Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, June 2016).
• “How to Reform Labor Law for the Gig Economy: Adapt it, Fix it, or Suspend it,” by Joe Kennedy (ITIF, May 2016).
• “Testimony Before U.S. House Committee on Small Business on Gig Economy Workers,” by Joe Kennedy, May 2016.
• “Think Like an Enterprise: Why Nations Need Comprehensive Productivity Strategies,” by Robert D. Atkinson (ITIF, May 2016).
• “Gig Economy: Changes We Need and Changes We Don’t Need,” by Joe Kennedy, Law360, May 2016.
• “Technology May Disrupt Occupations, But It Won’t Kill Jobs,” by Robert D. Atkinson, BLS Monthly Labor Review, February 2016.
• “Bring on the Robots, Please!” by Robert D. Atkinson, Huffington Post, February 2016.
• “How Certain Are You That Robots Won’t Create as Many Jobs as They Displace?” by Robert D. Atkinson, Christian Science Monitor, December 2015.
• “The Future of Work: Technology, Please Move Faster,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Pacific Standard, October 2015.
• “Could a Robot Save Your Job?” by Robert D. Atkinson and Jeff Burnstein, Christian Science Monitor, May 2015.
• “Rise of the (Foreign) Machines,” by Adams Nager, IndustryWeek, February 2015.
• “Embracing the Rise of the Machines,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Dialogue, December 2014.
• “What if We Got Serious About Education?” by Joe Kennedy, E21, May 2014.
• “Why Robots Don’t Kill Jobs,” by Robert D. Atkinson, ROS-I, May 2014.
• “Are Robots Taking Our Jobs, or Making Them?” by Ben Miller and Robert D. Atkinson, (ITIF, September 2013).
• “Robots Are Good for Us: Really, They Are!” by Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF Innovation Files commentary, April 2013.
• “I (Want) Robot,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Huffington Post, January 2013.
• “Antiquated Economic Policies Are Killing Jobs More Than Robots Are,” by Robert D. Atkinson, Huffington Post, December 2011.