SPEAKERS
| Jesse Lastunen, 海角社区-WIDER | Tommaso Ciarli, 海角社区-MERIT | Emanuele Pugliese 海角社区-MERIT |
DESCRIPTION
Artificial intelligence is transforming labour markets around the world, influencing employment patterns, productivity, and socio-economic inequalities. Recent studies in developed countries document significant productivity gains from AI use across various domains. Expanding access to similar tools in lower-income settings could generate comparable improvements in labour market outcomes by helping to overcome knowledge gaps and enhance workforce performance. At the same time, uneven access and usage patterns could reinforce existing inequalities, particularly in regions with limited technological infrastructure and in contexts where workers are concentrated in tasks and occupations heavily affected by AI.
This session will explore the impact of AI adoption and deployment on various labour market outcomes at the individual, firm, and country levels. This includes effects on job creation, hiring, employment, wage trends, productivity, and inequalities across dimensions such as education, age, and region. Understanding these trends is essential for shaping policies that maximize AI’s benefits while mitigating risks, ensuring that technological progress translates into widespread economic opportunities. The session will also highlight different methodologies used to assess AI’s impact on labour markets, including standard economic approaches and the use of multi-agent systems to simulate economic scenarios. By bringing together diverse perspectives and empirical insights, this session aims to deepen our understanding of AI’s transformative impact on labour markets, particularly in the Global South.
