What does a pro-worker application of AI look like in practice?
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social describes the Electrician's Assistant tool developed by Schneider Electric. The AI provides real-time field support to electricians and electrical engineers, making their expertise more effective.
What happened to US workers when China joined the WTO, and how have these workers fared since? How should policymakers respond?
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social spoke with @gsas.harvard.edu about his research on the continued impacts of the China Shock.
gsas.harvard.edu/news/david-a...
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains the difference between automation technologies and collaboration technologies — and why there is huge untapped potential for AI to be used as a collaboration tool.
I'm pleased to share the release of the 2026 International AI Safety Report, for which I was a reviewer. The report represents the largest global collaboration on AI safety to date. Learn more here: internationalaisafetyreport.org/publication/...
In The Digitalist Papers, @davidautor.bsky.social and Neil Thompson envision potential scenarios for how AI will transform work.
“Automation’s impacts on both employment and wages depend not only on how many tasks are automated, but which," they write.
www.digitalistpapers.com/vol2/autorth...
On Tuesday, December 2 at 11:00 AM EST, co-director @davidautor.bsky.social will deliver a presentation on Expertise, Artificial Intelligence, and the Work of the Future, organized by Pearson. Register for the webinar here: pearson.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
On @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social, co-director @davidautor.bsky.social discusses his research findings on the impacts of globalization — and why these impacts can look very different for places versus people.
Listen here: pod.link/pitchforkeco...
📣 Come work with us!
📊 We're hiring Predoctoral Researchers to work closely with @dacemoglumit.bsky.social, @davidautor.bsky.social, and @simonhrjohnson.bsky.social
📅 Apply by September 21 to meet the priority deadline: shapingwork.mit.edu/careers/
#econ_ra #econsky
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social was interviewed on @cbsnews.com about how AI is affecting job searches, particularly for entry-level workers.
www.cbsnews.com/news/how-is-...
In @theatlantic.com, co-director @davidautor.bsky.social and James Manyika explain why we should insist on developing AI as a collaboration tool, not just for automation — and what this would look like in practice.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains findings from his new research with Neil Thompson. Automation (including AI) can make a job more or less "expert," raising or lowering wages, depending on the nature of the tasks it removes and/or creates.
Watch the full clip: youtu.be/1lOOKvufS4w
"One of the great challenges of our era is to figure out how to create tools, AIs, that support people using their expertise better and learning faster."
Hear more from @davidautor.bsky.social on the Possible podcast with @reidhoffman.bsky.social: youtu.be/MGKUTVyqJlI
The MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative is now the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work. Hear from our co-directors @dacemoglumit.bsky.social, @davidautor.bsky.social, and @simonhrjohnson.bsky.social about our mission and goals for the years ahead.
(1/4) When some job tasks are automated, do the tasks that remain become more or less valuable? 🧵👇
In a new working paper, @davidautor.bsky.social and Neil Thompson argue the answer depends on how much expertise is required for the tasks still done by humans.
A recent article from @stanfordhai.bsky.social highlights insights from co-director @davidautor.bsky.social on how automation affects jobs — and why focusing solely on a job's exposure to automation misses the point.
hai.stanford.edu/news/assessi...
We asked co-director @davidautor.bsky.social if he thinks US tariffs and trade policy signal the end of the globalization era.
He explains: "I don't think globalization is over, but I think the US leadership of globalization may be over."
David Autor smiling with the Social Science Bites logo on the bottom
“I feel like if we use AI well, it's actually complementary to the knowledge that many people have.”
Economist @davidautor.bsky.social of @mitshapingwork.bsky.social discusses changes to the labor market on a new Social Science Bites episode.
Listen now: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/06/davi...
I'm delighted to announce this next chapter for @mitshapingwork.bsky.social. Support from the Stone Foundation will enable us — and many others — to focus our efforts towards shaping a labor market that offers opportunity, mobility and economic security to a far broader set of people.
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains key findings from his recent NBER working paper, co-authored with our research affiliate @profdaviddorn.bsky.social, Gordon Hanson, Maggie Jones, and Bradley Setzler.
Read the paper: shapingwork.mit.edu/research/pla...
#EconSky
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social, whose landmark research defined the "China Shock," argues that the US should invest in its own capacity to build cutting-edge technologies. However, blanket tariffs will not achieve this goal.
Watch the full clip: youtu.be/tjdiEQdSmPQ
#EconSky
I'm honored that MIT Press selected my book with Elisabeth Reynolds and David Mindell for this award.
What makes work valuable?
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains how expertise makes certain types of labor more valuable than others — but only if that expertise is both useful and scarce.
"Expertise is intrinsically a moving target ... It changes over time."
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains key insights from his recent QJE paper, which finds that 60% of the work we do today didn't exist in 1940.
Read New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940-2018: shapingwork.mit.edu/research/new...
Full clip: youtu.be/A3-nEP1oyeA
#EconSky
Two-page spread of the article "What keeps us busy in an automated age?", with illustrations of David Autor on the left, and an illustration of the "elevation of high skill" and the "suppressing of the middle skill" in relation to automation.
Second two-page spread of the article "What keeps us busy in an automated age?". On the right, an illustration of "the handoff problem", whereby automation can degrade expertise.
What keeps us busy in an automated age?
Simple: "We create new variety and new depth to what we do," says @davidautor.bsky.social of @mitshapingwork.bsky.social.
In this article, we cover his analyses of how AI could commodity expertise, or make a little expertise go further.
#scicomm #genai
Our co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains how AI, when implemented as a decision support tool, can potentially revitalize middle-skill work by extending the value of expertise to workers with less formal education.
Watch the video: youtu.be/66fYniAyCk0
