AI Weekly: Announcing our 'Automation and jobs in the new normal' special issue

Aside from staying alive and healthy, the biggest concern most people have during the pandemic is the future of their jobs. Unemployment in the U.S. has skyrocketed, from 5.8 million in February 2020 to 16.3 million in July 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it's not only the lost jobs that are reshaping work in the wake of COVID-19; the nature of many of the remaining jobs has changed, as remote work becomes the norm. And in the midst of it all, automation has become potentially a threat to some workers and a salvation to others. In our upcoming special issue, titled "Automation and jobs in the new normal," we examine this tension and explore the good, bad, and unknown of how automation could affect jobs in the immediate and near future.