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  5. Artificial Intelligence: The Ambiguous Labor Market Impact of Automating Prediction

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

Artificial Intelligence: The Ambiguous Labor Market Impact of Automating Prediction

  • Ajay Agrawal
  • Joshua S. Gans
  • Avi Goldfarb
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 33, no. 2, Spring 2019
(pp. 31–50)
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Abstract

Recent advances in artificial intelligence are primarily driven by machine learning, a prediction technology. Prediction is useful because it is an input into decision-making. In order to appreciate the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, it is important to understand the relative roles of prediction and decision tasks. We describe and provide examples of how artificial intelligence will affect labor, emphasizing differences between when the automation of prediction leads to automating decisions versus enhancing decision-making by humans.

Citation

Agrawal, Ajay, Joshua S. Gans, and Avi Goldfarb. 2019. "Artificial Intelligence: The Ambiguous Labor Market Impact of Automating Prediction." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33 (2): 31–50. DOI: 10.1257/jep.33.2.31

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • C63 Computational Techniques; Simulation Modeling
  • J23 Labor Demand
  • J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
  • L23 Organization of Production
  • M11 Production Management
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