Rotman Insights Hub | University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management
Groundbreaking ideas and research for engaged leaders
Rotman Insights Hub | University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management
Rotman Insights Hub | University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management Groundbreaking ideas and research for engaged leaders
Rotman Insights Hub | University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management

A world without work, with Daniel Susskind

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From mechanical looms to the combustion engine to the first computers, new technologies have always provoked panic about workers being replaced by machines. But this time really is different. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence mean that all kinds of jobs are increasingly at risk.

Daniel Susskind, Gillian Hadfield

Machines no longer need to think like us in order to outperform us. More and more tasks that used to be far beyond the capability of computers — from diagnosing illnesses to drafting legal contracts, from writing news reports to composing music — are coming within their reach. The threat of technological unemployment is now real.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Technological progress could bring about unprecedented prosperity, solving one of humanity’s oldest problems: how to make sure that everyone has enough to live on. The challenges will be to distribute this prosperity fairly, to constrain the burgeoning power of Big Tech, and to provide meaning in a world where work is no longer the center of our lives. 

This fascinating talk draws upon A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond (Picador, May 4, 2021) by Daniel Susskind, and is part of the Big Ideas Speaker Series at Rotman. The livestream aired on Thursday May 13, 2021.

Daniel SusskindDr. Daniel Susskind is a fellow in economics at Oxford University, and a visiting professor at King’s College London. He is the co-author of the best-selling book, The Future of the Professions (2015) and the author of A World Without Work (2020). He previously served in various roles in the British Government. and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University. 
Gillian Hadfield is the Schwartz Reisman chair in technology and society, and is a professor of law as well as a professor of strategic management and director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society at the University of Toronto.
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