The Block Center at CMU and MIT FutureTech Announce Research Collaboration on Labor Implications of AI

Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) The Block Center for Technology and Society and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT FutureTech announced today the launch of a joint research funding project made possible thanks to a $1.6 million dollar grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The project is aimed at studying the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the workforce, headquartered at the Block Center. This research effort will be co lead by CMU’s Christophe Combemale (Principal Investigator) and MIT’s Martin Fleming. In collaboration with CMU and MIT are the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information, Northeastern University, University of Virginia, the California Policy Lab, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, this multi-institutional effort will work in collaboration to develop evidence-based foundations for understanding the impact of AI on workers and labor markets.

“Traditional retrospective approaches on the workforce impacts of technology change may be too slow to keep pace with the development and diffusion of AI.  At the same time, the impacts of AI may be quite uneven across firms, industries and geography, so we need measures that are forward-looking,” said Christophe Combemale, Assistant Professor in Engineering and Public Policy and Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University and the project’s principal investigator.  

This research collaboration will pursue four separate modules examining the following research questions:

1. Which workers have improved employment outcomes from AI, and which will be at risk of job loss? Which communities will see increased risk of unemployment? (Transition/Geography modules)
2. When, where, and how is AI being adopted? Which companies benefit and lose? (Adoption module)
3. Which novel sources of data and measurement methods can be created to aid the identification of AI-driven changes, including potential AI skill shortages? (Adoption/Talent modules)
4. What policy actions have been most effective for supporting AI-exposed workers transition into future roles, and where can the government best focus its attention? (Transition/Geography  modules)

This ambitious project is made possible thanks to a $1.6 million dollar grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This project will proceed over a two year period, with the intent of improving data on labor markets and workers in relation to AI adoption. The research will produce academic articles on technological effects on labor and policy-oriented reports to support research-driven decision-making that can help protect and enhance worker prosperity.

“This project is an opportunity to bring together multiple complementary approaches to that big picture problem, in a way that can be actionable for employers, workers, and government,” said Martin Fleming, Research Scientist at MIT FutureTech.

The Sloan Foundation has recognized the value of bringing multiple disciplines and methods together -- we need economics, social science and engineering to achieve visibility into AI adoption and to build useful explanations of what we find that are grounded in the characteristics of the technology.  Sloan has given us the encouragement to make the whole of our effort more than the sum of its parts.

About The Block Center at Carnegie Mellon University

Established in 2019, The Block Center for Technology and Society focuses on the impact of emerging technologies on the future of work, aiming to harness technology for social good and create inclusive innovation. For more information, please visit www.cmu.edu/block-center.

About MIT FutureTech

MIT FutureTech is a research lab focused on understanding and shaping the future of transformative technologies. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the lab operates within both the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and MIT Sloan's Initiative on the Digital Economy (MIT IDE). FutureTech explores the economic, technical, and societal impacts of innovations such as artificial intelligence, computing, and digital technology. Through rigorous interdisciplinary research, the lab aims to inform policy, guide investment, and accelerate positive technological progress for humanity. For more information, visit https://futuretech.mit.edu.

About The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

The ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION is a not-for-profit, mission-driven grantmaking institution dedicated to improving the welfare of all through the advancement of scientific knowledge. Established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-President and Chief Executive Officer of the General Motors Corporation, the Foundation makes grants in four broad areas: direct support of research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics; initiatives to increase the quality, equity, diversity, and inclusiveness of scientific institutions and the science workforce; projects to develop or leverage technology to empower research; and efforts to enhance and deepen public engagement with science and scientists. sloan.org