Econ Talk is a weekly economics podcast from the Library of Economics and Liberty. Today's guest is David Otter, author of Polanyi's Paradox and the Shape of Employment Growth. We look at the threat and opportunity posed by the increasing role of smart machines and computers in our economy.
David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the future of work and the role that automation and smart machines might play in the workforce. Autor stresses the importance of Michael Polanyi's insight that many of the things we know and understand cannot be easily written down or communicated. Those kinds of tacit knowledge will be difficult for smart machines to access and use. In addition, Autor argues that fundamentally, the gains from machine productivity will accrue to humans. The conversation closes with a discussion of the distributional implications of a world with a vastly larger role for smart machines.