What if AI is repeating the same mistakes society made during the Industrial Revolution?
In this episode of Technovation, Peter is joined by Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics and Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management Simon Johnson. Throughout their conversation, they explore why automation has historically failed to deliver shared prosperity and why artificial intelligence may be following the same path. Drawing on centuries of economic history, Johnson explains how mechanization once displaced workers faster than new jobs were created, fueling inequality and social unrest.
Together, they discuss what today’s AI leaders must learn from history, why institutions matter more than technology alone, and how workforce anxiety is an early warning sign of deeper structural problems.
Key topics include:
- Automation vs. job creation
- AI’s impact on entry-level and knowledge work
- Workforce polarization and regional inequality
- Lessons from the Industrial Revolution for today’s leaders
- What it takes to align innovation with shared prosperity
