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Report | November 17, 2020

The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
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Report | November 1, 2019

The Work of the Future: Shaping Technology and Institutions

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

To provide a framework for MIT's Task Force’s efforts over the next year, this report examines several aspects of the interaction between work and technology.

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Research Brief | January 25, 2021

Factories of the Future: Technology, Skills, and Digital Innovation at Large Manufacturing Firms

Susan Helper Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Daniel Traficonte PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Anuraag Singh Fellow, System Design and Management
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Research Brief | December 17, 2020

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

Thomas Malone Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor of Management
Daniela Rus Director, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL); Andrew & Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Robert Laubacher Associate Director, MIT Center for Collective Intelligence
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Research Brief | November 24, 2020

Manufacturing in America: A View from the Field

Suzanne Berger John M. Deutch Institute Professor
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Research Brief | November 24, 2020

The State of Industrial Robotics: Emerging Technologies, Challenges, and Key Research Directions

Lindsay Sanneman PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Christopher Fourie PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Julie Shah Professor, MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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Research Brief | November 24, 2020

Additive Manufacturing: Implications for Technological Change, Workforce Development, and the Product Lifecycle

Haden Quinlan Program Manager, MIT Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies
John Hart Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Director, Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP); Director, MIT Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies
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Research Brief | October 29, 2020

Good Jobs

Joshua Cohen Distinguished Senior Fellow in Law, Philosophy, and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley; Faculty Member, Apple University
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Research Brief | October 29, 2020

Robots as Symbols and Anxiety Over Work Loss

Christine Walley Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology
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Research Brief | October 26, 2020

The Impact of New Technology on the Healthcare Workforce

Ari Bronsoler PhD Student, Department of Economics, MIT
Joseph Doyle Erwin H. Schell Professor of Management and Applied Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management
John Van Reenen Ronald Coase Chair in Economics and School Professor, London School of Economics; Digital Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy
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Research Brief | September 29, 2020

Taxes, Automation, and the Future of Labor

Daron Acemoglu Institute Professor
Andrea Manera PhD Student, MIT Department of Economics
Pascual Restrepo Assistant Professor, Economics, Boston University
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Research Brief | September 8, 2020

Warehousing, Trucking, and Technology: The Future of Work in Logistics

Arshia Mehta Candidate for BA in Chemistry and Economics, Wellesley College; UROP to MIT Work of the Future
Frank Levy Rose Professor Emeritus, MIT
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Research Brief | July 22, 2020

Autonomous Vehicles, Mobility, and Employment Policy: The Roads Ahead

John Leonard Samuel C. Collins Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Erik Stayton Technologist and Technology Scholar, MIT Doctoral Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS)
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Research Brief | July 8, 2020

Worker Voice, Representation, and Implications for Public Policies

Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
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Working Paper | December 15, 2020

The Learning System at IBM: A Case Study

Fei Qin Associate Professor, School of Management, University of Bath; Faculty Affiliate, Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at MIT
Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
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Working Paper | December 11, 2020

Avenues of Institutional Change: Technology and Urban Mobility in Southeast Michigan

Russell Glynn MIT Technology & Policy Program, SM ‘21
Kevin X. Shen MIT Technology & Policy Program SM '21; MIT Transportation, SM ’21
Mario Goetz MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning, MCP '20
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Working Paper | November 24, 2020

A Case Study of Integrating Technology and Work Systems at Kaiser Permanente’s Health Hubs

Anubhav Arora Healthcare Design Strategist
Barbara Dyer Senior Lecturer, Work and Organization Studies, MIT Sloan
Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
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Working Paper | October 23, 2020

Participatory Design for Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Enterprises

Anastasia K. Ostrowski PhD, Student Personal Robots Group, MIT Media Lab
Bastian Pokorni Head of Connected Manufacturing Systems, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
Simon Schumacher Researcher & Project Lead Future Work Lab, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA
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Working Paper | April 7, 2020

Redeployment or Robocalypse? Workers and Automation in Ohio Manufacturing SMEs

Anna Waldman-Brown PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Explore how small factory owners conceptualize automation by complementing existing technologies to understand the likelihood of an impending robocalypse.

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Working Paper | January 8, 2020

Independence of Technology and Work Systems

Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
John Van Reenen Ronald Coase Chair in Economics and School Professor, London School of Economics; Digital Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy
Susan Helper Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Alex Kowalski PhD Candidate, MIT Sloan School of Management

A summary of prior evidence on the interrelationships between technology and work systems, related management practices and their effects on economic performance.

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Project | August 3, 2020

Mobility and the Work of the Future

Jason Jackson Assistant Professor of Political Economy and Urban Planning
John Leonard Samuel C. Collins Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Paul Osterman Nanyang Technological University Professor of Human Resources and Management; Co-director, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
Allison Forbes Senior Research Associate
Anuraag Singh Fellow, System Design and Management

The MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future uses Detroit MSA to examine the relationships between technology, work, and society through the lens of mobility.

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Publication | January 25, 2022

The Work Of The Future: Building Better Jobs In An Age Of Intelligent Machines

David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
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Publication | January 6, 2022

The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

This new book by the Co-Chairs of the Task force discusses why the United States lags behind other industrialized countries in sharing the benefits of innovation with workers and how we can remedy the problem. The United States has too many low-quality, low-wage jobs. Every country has its share, but those in the United States are especially poorly paid and often without benefits. Meanwhile, overall productivity increases steadily and new technology has transformed large parts of the economy, enhancing the skills and paychecks of higher-paid knowledge workers. What's wrong with this picture? Why have so many workers benefited so little from decades of growth? The Work of the Future shows that technology is neither the problem nor the solution. We can build better jobs if we create institutions that leverage technological innovation and also support workers though long cycles of technological transformation. (to be published 1/25/22)

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