MIT Stone Center on Inequality & Shaping Work

What happened to US workers when China joined the WTO, and how have these workers fared since? How should policymakers respond? Co-director @davidautor spoke with @HarvardGSAS about his research on the continued impacts of the China Shock. gsas.harvard.edu/news/david-aut…

Co-director @baselinescene describes some of the economic consequences of the conflict in Iran, including the ripple effects of rising oil prices. For an in-depth discussion of this topic, check out Simon's new podcast with Gary Gensler: simonhrjohnson.substack.com/p/episode-thre…

Co-director @davidautor 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.

simonhrjohnson.substack.com/p/episode-thre… latest episode of Power and Consequences (Gary Gensler and Simon Johnson) on Economic Impacts from the Iran Conflict; substack post links to data sources and suggested additional reading #OOTT

💡Why does wealth inequality matter? Our recent symposium at MIT examined the origins, mechanisms, and political consequences of high inequality. Read a recap of the event: shapingwork.mit.edu/news/event-rec…

The AI at Work program at Schmidt Sciences has launched a new request for proposals. We are funding ambitious technical research on how generative AI adoption influences the nature of work and the functioning of the labor market: schmidtsciences.smapply.io/prog/ai_at_wor…

Co-director @baselinescene participated in a recent debate with @OpentoDebateOrg on whether AI will make work obsolete. "We need to redirect the direction of artificial intelligence, but it's not what's happening," he argued. Watch here: youtube.com/watch?v=3lijAX… 📸 Poll Bravo

AI systems are now writing code, diagnosing diseases, designing buildings, and even generating art. Tools like @ChatGPTapp, @claudeai, @GoogleDeepMind, and autonomous robots are reshaping industries once thought immune to automation. Will AI usher in a new era of prosperity and leisure or a future of unemployment and inequality? Featured Debaters: Dr. @ruchowdh, @chrishughes (@economicsecproj), Simon Johnson @baselinescene (@MITshapingwork), and @AndrewYang. Moderated by @JohnDonvan. This is the fifth debate of The Hopkins Forum series, co-presented by @snfagora of @johnshopkinsu and @opentodebateorg. Photo credit: Poll Bravo of @JHUBloombergCtr. Watch now on YouTube, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Read the essay: brookings.edu/articles/build…

Why aim to mimic human intelligence with AI, when AI has different comparative advantages? @DAcemogluMIT explains the motivation behind the recent essay "Building pro-worker artificial intelligence," authored by our co-directors. Link to essay below👇

Have you read our mini-comic adaptation of Power and Progress yet? Download the comic for free at the link below

Founding Director of Princeton’s Program for Research on Inequality, @EDerenoncourt, joined a symposium on “Why Wealth Inequality Matters,” hosted by @MITshapingwork. Read more here: bit.ly/4b4QSDW

💻 Webinar tomorrow! AI + work: Building pro-worker AI Tomorrow (Wed 2/25) at 2:00 PM EST, co-directors @DAcemogluMIT, @davidautor, and @baselinescene will participate in a virtual panel discussion hosted by @HamiltonProj (@BrookingsInst). Register here: hamiltonproject.org/event/building…

An @MITSloan article features insights from @ZanaBucinca, @emollick & @DAcemogluMIT at our launch event, including: 🔎 Defining pro-worker AI 🚫 3 barriers to its implementation 💡 Design & strategy principles needed to build pro-worker AI mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-…

Dear followers, please see the thread below on the 2026 International AI Safety Report, which was released last week and which I advised. The report provides an up-to-date, internationally shared assessment of general-purpose AI capabilities, emerging risks, and the current state of risk management and safeguards. #about-this-report" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">internationalaisafetyreport.org/publication/in…

AI creates great possibilities for expanding human capabilities to make workers more effective, skilled, and valuable, but only if organizations develop and implement the technology intentionally. @MITshapingwork @DAcemogluMIT bit.ly/4kvR1ok

We partnered with @schmidtsciences to help select grantees who are conducting conducting innovative field experiments on the labor economics of frontier AI, one of multiple calls for proposals under the AI at Work program. Read about the research projects: schmidtsciences.org/schmidt-scienc…

Miss our symposium on Why Wealth Inequality Matters this week? Watch a full recording of the event. youtube.com/watch?v=zSeLVx…

I am pleased to share the cover for my new book, WHAT HAPPENED TO LIBERAL DEMOCRACY?. It's an in-depth look at the rise and fall of liberal democracy, and invitation to remake liberalism with a new political philosophy.   Out Aug 11. Preorder here: bit.ly/LiberalDemocra…

🔴 🎥 Livestreaming now! Watch our symposium on "Why Wealth Inequality Matters" live from 1-5 PM EST. youtube.com/live/c_hr9x1R3…