Abstract
Generative AI burst into the public consciousness with the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the end of 2022. In the two and a half years that followed, we have seen the capabilities of foundation models like ChatGPT grow at a breathtaking rate, but our understanding of AI’s implications for the economy and work has not kept pace. Public impact predictions have ranged from species extinction to utopia, while even the most sober and technical economic forecasts have varied by amounts nearly twice the size of Germany’s economy.
As a result, state and federal policymakers, business and innovation leaders, higher education institutions, and everyday students, families and workers face great uncertainty as they try to decide how to react to and prepare for the effects AI may have on business, careers, jobs, education, innovation, and the prosperity and security of the United States. Much of this uncertainty stems from the lack of trustworthy, timely, local, and actionable data about where the technology is headed, how its capabilities may shape the workplaces of the future, and what we can do to prepare.
This talk surveys some of the key issues for understanding AI effects on our jobs and the economy. It walks through initial findings the Industries of Ideas (IofI) project, a new effort that brings together universities, federal and state agencies, business and economic development leaders, and education and training providers to better understand how this new technology is shaping jobs and the skills needed to position the nation, specific regions, employers, and individuals to thrive in an AI-driven economy.
Biography
As Associate Vice President for Research-Institutional Capabilities and Research Intelligence, Jason Owen-Smith plays a key role in expanding the use of data to strategically support the University of Michigan’s research and creative enterprise. Owen-Smith is Professor of Sociology, Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research (ISR) Survey Research Center (SRC) at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on the dynamics of large-scale networks and their effects on knowledge-intensive work and innovation, with a particular focus on science and engineering research and surgical care. In addition to numerous academic articles he is the author of a recent book, Research Universities and the Public Good: Discovery for an Uncertain Future.
Jason is co-founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS), which collects, curates and shares data to help understand, explain and eventually improve the public value of investments in academic research.
