MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE) joined forces on November 8, 2018, to host the 2nd annual AI and the Future of Work Congress.
Driven by an artificial intelligence revolution and new talent models, work is rapidly changing. Daily, jobs and the skills needed to be successful in the workplace are being reinvented.
With headlines like, “Will Robots and AI Take Your Job” and “Automation Is the Greatest Threat to the American Worker, Not Outsourcing”, the future of work is uncertain and daunting for many across the globe.
MIT takes as a guiding premise that addressing the social and human implications of technology should not be an afterthought
Watch a few of the 2018 session highlights from the second annual AI and the Future of Work Congress.
Welcome |
Erik Brynjolfsson
Director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and Schussel Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management |

|
Fireside Chat: Preparing Learners to Succeed in the A.I. Age |
Moderator: Elisabeth B. Reynolds
Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future
Joseph Aoun
President, Northeastern University
Today, nearly every conversation about the future of work and the modern economy is dominated by the specter of robotics and intelligent machines. Several studies forecast that up to half of the jobs we know today will disappear over the next 20 years—and countless new jobs will be created. In his new book, “Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” Joseph E. Aoun confronts head on the need for colleges and universities to meet the challenge—and indeed the opportunity—presented by smart machines. The president of Northeastern University, Aoun will discuss his blueprint for higher education featuring three primary components: a new curriculum for the A.I. age; the case for experiential learning, the ideal delivery system for this new curriculum; and a clarion call for higher education to place lifelong learning at the heart of the educational enterprise. |
 |
Video Presentation |
Daniela Rus
Director, MIT CSAIL |

|
Session 2
The AI Enabled Organization |
Moderator: Erik Brynjolfsson
Director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and Schussel Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management
Nichole Jordan
Managing Partner of Markets, Clients & Industry, Grant Thornton LLP
Sophie Vandebroek
Vice President of Emerging Technology Partnerships, IBM Corporation
Gabi Zijderveld
Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Product Strategy, Affectiva
As AI is increasingly embedded throughout an organization new business strategies, organizational models and jobs are emerging while others are disappearing. Some of these changes will cause profound shifts in business strategy. This panel will examine the shift and ask:
- What does a “thinking machine” mean for workers and organizations?
- How will AI impact an organization’s overall strategy?
- How will organizations use AI to increase their competitiveness?
- What ethical challenges exist in incorporating AI systems?
|

|
Session 4
Humans Disrupted: Skills, Training, and Leadership in the Future Workplace |
Moderator: Lori Glover
Managing Director, MIT CSAIL Alliances
Fred Goff
Founder and CEO, Jobcase
Allison Horn
Managing Director, Learning & Leadership Development, Accenture
Becky Schmitt
Senior Vice President of Global People, Walmart
Dr. Jim Tracy
President, Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning
In any job a worker performs many different tasks. While some of these tasks are vulnerable to automation, many are not. What are the jobs that are really at risk? How will increased collaboration between humans and machines work? What human roles and skills will disappear and what new ones are on the horizon? What impact will the AI revolution have on how we prepare the next generation for the future of work? What will educators and business leaders need to do to retrain the existing workforce? |

|
Keynote Address |
Secretary Rosalin Acosta
Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development in Massachusetts |

|
Archived Videos
View videos from the inaugural AI and the Future of Work Congress at: 2017 Video Sessions