Automation, Augmentation, Value Creation & the Distribution of Income & Wealth

Abstract

Digital technologies are transforming the economy and society. The dimensionality and scope of the impacts are bewildering and too numerous to cover in a single essay. But of all the concerns around digital technology (and there are many), perhaps none has attracted more attention, and generated deeper anxiety, than the impact of various types of automation on work and on the structure of the economy. I focus on the ways in which the digitization of virtually all data, information, and content is transforming economies. And more specifically, I look at the impacts of automation, augmentation, AI, machine learning, and advanced robotics on economic transformations, on work, and on the distribution of income and wealth.