Report: Robots could threaten the jobs of some U.S. workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Automation could threaten the jobs of “lower-paid, lower-skilled and less-educated” workers, leading to greater U.S. income inequality, according to “Artificial Intelligence, Automation and the Economy,” a new report issued by the Executive Office of the President.

“Automation will continue to put downward pressure on demand for this group, putting downward pressure on wages and upward pressure on inequality,” stated the report. “In the longer-run, there may be different or larger effects. One possibility is superstar-biased technological change, where the benefits of technology accrue to an even smaller portion of society than just highly-skilled workers. The winner-take-most nature of information technology markets means that only a few may come to dominate markets.”

The report added that if labor productivity increases created in part by robots do not translate into wage increases, then large economic gains gained from artificial intelligence will benefit a select few.

“Instead of broadly shared prosperity for workers and consumers, this might push towards reduced competition and increased wealth inequality,” the report said.

Responding to artificial intelligence-driven automation will be a “significant policy challenge for the next administration and its successors,” the report concluded. It put forth three strategies to help ease the transition of a future of robots in the workforce, including the retail space.

Strategy #1: “Invest in and develop artificial intelligence for its many benefits. If care is taken to responsibly maximize its development, artificial intelligence will make important, positive contributions to aggregate productivity growth, and advances in artificial intelligence technology hold incredible potential to help the United States stay on the cutting edge of innovation.

Strategy #2: Educate and train Americans for jobs of the future. As artificial intelligence changes the nature of work and the skills demanded by the labor market, American workers will need to be prepared with the education and training that can help them continue to succeed. Delivering this education and training will require significant investments. This starts with providing all children with access to high-quality early education so that all families can prepare their students for continued education, as well as investing in graduating all students from high school college- and career-ready, and ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable post-secondary education.

Strategy #3: Aid workers in the transition and empower workers to ensure broadly shared growth. Policymakers should ensure that workers and job seekers are both able to pursue the job opportunities for which they are best qualified and best positioned to ensure they receive an appropriate return for their work in the form of rising wages. This includes steps to modernize the social safety net, including exploring strengthening critical supports such as unemployment insurance, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and putting in place new programs such as wage insurance and emergency aid for families in crisis.

If a significant proportion of Americans are affected in the short- and medium-term by AI-driven job displacements, policymakers will need to consider more robust interventions, such as further strengthening the unemployment insurance system and countervailing job creation strategies, to smooth the transition.”