The remarkable progression of innovations that imbue machines with human and super-human capabilities is generating significant uncertainty and deep anxiety about the future of work. Whether and how our current period of technological disruption differs from prior industrial epochs is a source of vigorous debate. But there is no question that we face an urgent sense of collective concern about how to harness these technological innovations for social benefit. To meet this challenge, the Institute is launching the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future.
The Task Force’s mandate is to address three questions:
1. How are emerging technologies transforming the nature of human work and the set of skills that enable humans to thrive in the digital economy?
2. How can we shape and catalyze technological innovation to complement and augment human potential?
3. How can our civic institutions ensure that the gains from these emerging innovations contribute to equality of opportunity, social inclusion, and shared prosperity?
