Ideas change everything

Will automation take away all our jobs?

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David Autor |

TEDxCambridge

• September 2016

Here's a paradox you don't hear much about: despite a century of creating machines to do our work for us, the proportion of adults in the US with a job has consistently gone up for the past 125 years. Why hasn't human labor become redundant and our skills obsolete? In this talk about the future of work, economist David Autor addresses the question of why there are still so many jobs and comes up with a surprising, hopeful answer.

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Here's a paradox you don't hear much about: despite a century of creating machines to do our work for us, the proportion of adults in the US with a job has consistently gone up for the past 125 years. Why hasn't human labor become redundant and our skills obsolete? In this talk about the future of work, economist David Autor addresses the question of why there are still so many jobs and comes up with a surprising, hopeful answer.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxCambridge, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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About the speaker

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David Autor's work assesses the labor market consequences of technological change and globalization.

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MIT School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative

Check out research on the economics of education and the connections between human capital and the American income distribution.

MIT Inclusive Innovation Competition

Celebrate organizations that create economic opportunity in the digital era.

MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy

Explore how people and businesses will work, interact and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxCambridge, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

David Autor: Will automation take away all our jobs? | TED Talk