@DAcemogluMIT
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‘Demographic change can also create opportunities, especially in societies whose institutions can adapt and that can make the right technological investments,’ @DAcemogluMIT in @TIME time.com/article/2026/1…View quoted post on X
Today we’re launching The Human Endeavor, a new interview series with @TIME Studios on how we put technology to work to expand human potential.View quoted post on X
For our first conversation, I sat down with MIT’s Daron Acemoglu, winner of the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Daron makes a compelling case for pro-worker AI that expands what frontline workers can do rather than sidelining them.
Daron is optimistic that AI can deliver shared prosperity, but he’s clear that it won’t happen by default. He points to an earlier era of technological change, when automakers created new kinds of work that helped raise wages and expand opportunity. The choices we make now, from how we design work to how we tax it, will help determine whether AI can do the same. @Cognizant
time.com/branded-conten…
One of the best books I’ve read this year is @DAcemogluMIT's “What Happened to Liberal Democracy?” It’s a big book with a few terrific, and surprising, sections on the way technology contributed to the recent decline of democracy. Automation rewarded highly educated workers which, he says, led to a new class of liberal elites who began living and working almost exclusively with each other. This broke the bonds that once brought lower-educated and higher-educated workers together. As the two groups drifted apart, both culturally and financially, the politics on the left began to shift away from the values that everyday people care about most. The backlash to this change helped get Trump elected and fueled illiberal movements around the world.
We are now in the early stages of a new wave of automation with AI, and Daron sees us repeating many of the same mistakes. The tech industry’s pursuit of an all-powerful intelligence could exacerbate income inequality and drive enormous societal shifts. He also contends that AI companies are paying scant attention to the potential of this technology to improve how we already work. AI could empower us—but only if we build tools for humans, not machines designed to replace us.
We sat down in Boston to talk about his ideas for pro-worker AI, whether AI will ultimately benefit democracies or dictators, and the area where China is pulling ahead.
I hope you watch and subscribe. youtube.com/watch?v=M6Emlq…View quoted post on X
