FW-HTF-P Shaping Technology and Institutions for the Work of the Future

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier (FW-HTF) project will enable the MIT Work of the Future initiative to advance into a second phase of its research agenda, focused on specific emerging technologies within several industries, and worker experiences in the workplace. The resulting studies will shed light on how technology might be shaped to augment workers and how workers can be best supported when confronted with technological change. Currently, there is a paucity of international comparative analysis of how emerging AI technologies are being developed and adopted, how they impact firm performance and how they are changing the nature of work, the organization of work and the skills required for workers to succeed and advance. This research will address this need for robust data and insights in a cross-country comparative context on the changing nature of work, skills and training in the face of the introduction of new AI-related technologies in the workplace. At the same time, the research will further the collective understanding of workers’ perspective on new technology in the workplace, as well as the types of education and training incumbent workers are receiving today in the workplace. These cross-national comparative data and insights will ultimately support industry, government and labor among others, in developing policies and strategies that both promote innovation and investments in workers and shared prosperity. The research will focus on two AI-related technologies in the workplace and the implications for work and workers: one that is more relevant for more traditional manufacturing-related work; and another that will be around software-based artificial intelligence, largely in the application of machine learning. With respect to the former, the research will focus on collaborative robotics, which promote a vision of “augmented intelligence” rather than artificial intelligence. Collaborative robots, which we define in the industrial context as robots that can safely operate in close proximity to humans without being required to stop, provide an opportunity to leverage the relative strengths of humans and robots to do what neither can do alone. This planning grant will enable researchers to develop robust research methodologies and tools (semi-structured interviews, surveys, case studies) that examine the use of collaborative robotics as one case within an industry across multiple geographies. This can then be expanded in scope and scale across technologies, industries and geographies through the creation of a cross-national network of research partners. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.