Decades of technological change have polarized the earnings of the American workforce, helping highly educated white-collar workers thrive, while hollowing out the middle class. Yet present-day advances like robots and artificial intelligence do not spell doom for middle-tier or lower-wage workers, since innovations create jobs as well. With better policies in place, more people could enjoy good careers even as new technology transforms workplaces. The report, "The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines," was released today, and the task force is hosting an online conference on Wednesday, the "AI & the Future of Work Congress." At the core of the task force's findings: A robot-driven jobs apocalypse is not on the immediate horizon.

David Mindell has spent his career defying traditional distinctions between disciplines. His work has explored the ways humans interact with machines, drive innovation, and maintain societal well-being as technology transforms our economy. And, Mindell says, he couldn't have done it anywhere but MIT. He joined MIT's faculty 23 years ago after completing his PhD in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, and he currently holds a dual appointment in engineering and humanities as the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and professor of aeronautics and astronautics. Mindell's experience combining fields of study has shaped his ideas about the relationship between humans and machines.

Working alongside an industrial robot can be frustrating and even downright dangerous. But a new sensing system could make human-robot collaboration a cinch. Humatics, an MIT spinout, is developing an indoor radar system that should give robots and other industrial systems the ability to track people's movements very precisely. This could make industrial systems significantly safer, make it possible to track worker performance in greater detail, and lead to more effective new forms of collaboration between people and machines. "We very much see this enabling robots to live in human environments," says David Mindell, a professor in the aeronautics and astronautics department at MIT, who is the company's cofounder and CEO.

Science and technology are essential tools for innovation, and to reap their full potential, we also need to articulate and solve the many aspects of today's global issues that are rooted in the political, cultural, and economic realities of the human world. With that mission in mind, MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences has launched The Human Factor -- an ongoing series of stories and interviews that highlight research on the human dimensions of global challenges. Contributors to this series also share ideas for cultivating the multidisciplinary collaborations needed to solve the major civilizational issues of our time. David Mindell, the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, researches the intersections of human behavior, technological innovation, and automation. Mindell is the author of five acclaimed books, most recently "Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy" (Viking, 2015).