Historically, we are a species of conflict. When we had started living in communities, we had started to become the intelligent species we are today. It is all the result of our beginnings that we can use LinkedIn, eat and live better lives, provide even better lives to our next generations. Let us not forget how we had started thousands and thousands of years ago in the caves and then evolved constantly to reach here! Technology and its massive growth after the Industrial Revolution, and now the advent of Artificial Intelligence will transform us forever.

The development and adoption of advanced technologies including smart automation and artificial intelligence has the potential not only to raise productivity and GDP growth but also to improve well-being more broadly, including through healthier life and longevity and more leisure. Alongside such benefits, these technologies also have the potential to reduce disruption and the potentially destabilizing effects on society arising from their adoption. Tech for Good: Smoothing disruption, improving well-being (PDF–1MB) examines the factors that can help society achieve such benefits and makes a first attempt to calculate the impact of technology adoption on welfare growth beyond GDP. Our modeling suggests that good outcomes for the economy overall and for individual well-being come about when technology adoption is focused on innovation-led growth rather than purely on labor reduction and cost savings through automation. This needs to be accompanied by proactive transition management that increases labor market fluidity and equips workers with new skills. Technology for centuries has both excited the human imagination and prompted fears about its effects. Today's technology cycle is no different, provoking a broad spectrum of hopes and fears.

The development and adoption of advanced technologies including smart automation and artificial intelligence has the potential not only to raise productivity and GDP growth but also to improve well-being more broadly, including through healthier life and longevity and more leisure. Alongside such benefits, these technologies also have the potential to reduce disruption and the potentially destabilizing effects on society arising from their adoption. Tech for Good: Smoothing disruption, improving well-being (PDF–1MB) examines the factors that can help society achieve such benefits and makes a first attempt to calculate the impact of technology adoption on welfare growth beyond GDP. Our modeling suggests that good outcomes for the economy overall and for individual well-being come about when technology adoption is focused on innovation-led growth rather than purely on labor reduction and cost savings through automation. This needs to be accompanied by proactive transition management that increases labor market fluidity and equips workers with new skills. Technology for centuries has both excited the human imagination and prompted fears about its effects. Today's technology cycle is no different, provoking a broad spectrum of hopes and fears. Opinion surveys suggest people tend to have a nuanced view of technology but nonetheless worry about the risks: while generally positive about longer-term benefits, especially for health, many are also concerned about the negative impact on their lives, in particular in the areas of job security, material living standards, safety, and trust.

This Christmas, my friend's grandmother finally found out what her grandson had been working on for years. He's a data scientist raised on English with a bit of Spanish that gets dusted off on occasional family occasions. His grandmother speaks only Spanish. "Before today, my grandmother had no idea what I actually do for a living." The sci-fi-fuelled rumors of what data scientists work on -- especially if we specialize in AI -- attract a whiff of the ridiculous, so many of us find ourselves constantly having to explain our life choices.