We are seeing AI technologies increasingly deployed across many parts of society. Around the globe, governments are rushing to mobilize vast amounts of capital to invest into AI innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic prompts us to rethink what is considered high- or low-skill work. Whose skills, whose labor and whose hours, exactly, are of value to society? What and who do we value and deem essential, and how do we compensate these workers (e.g., care work or teaching)?

Artificial intelligence has the opportunity to affect almost every aspect of how we live and consume. I struggle to think of a single industry that could not be transformed through AI technologies, leading to huge gains in effectiveness or efficiency. Yet it's sometimes hard to see a place for AI in particular businesses or organizations, especially if there's an established product, workflow, and way of thinking. Because of this, it can be easy to overlook the opportunities afforded by some of the most revolutionary technologies of our age. To see these opportunities, it is important to remember that powerful AI methods have not been around for very long.