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Retraining for Workers Replaced by AI – Promising, but Only If Done Right
- VHRanger 7y agoFirst, workers are rarely replaced in general by AI. The correct wording would be "displaced" in that the job definition may change, or move the labor demand to other industries. Unemployment is rarely affected in the long run. See the r/economics FAQ on automation for details on that [1] That said, it's worthy to be skeptical of after-the-fact retraining programs because they've proven ineffective in manufacturing offshoring. Offshoring works exactly the same as automation on the economics of labor (replacing labor input with capital input for a task). Autor, Dorn and Hansen (2016)'s famous "China Shock" labor economic paper paints a bleak picture of adaptation to offshoring in rural manufacturing towns. Rural communities do not adapt well to the changing economy that puts more emphasis on urban knowledge based work. Forward looking training programs (training employees before labor disruption by automation) like described in the article has some merit to it however. 1. https://www.singlelunch.com/2019/10/21/the-economic-effects-of-automation-arent-what-you-think-they-are/ https://www.singlelunch.com/2019/10/21/the-economic-effects-...