Gresham College Lectures Automation Anxiety - Daniel Susskind
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Sep 19, 2025 Daniel Susskind, a research professor and economist at King’s College London, delves into 'automation anxiety'—the fear that technology will take away jobs. He traces this concern from the Luddites to modern-day protests against driverless cars. Susskind discusses how, despite past anxieties, history shows that new technologies often create different types of work. He highlights the decline in job quality and rising inequalities, emphasizing the need to rethink what work means in an AI-driven world.
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Why AI Claims Deserve Serious Attention
- Extraordinary investment and talent are driving rapid AI progress that could match claims of broad capability gains.
- Daniel Susskind urges taking those claims seriously despite warranted skepticism about exact timelines.
The Great Manure Crisis Parable
- Susskind tells the 'Great Manure Crisis' story to show how technology solved an apparent disaster.
- Horses and manure were replaced by cars and internal combustion engines within decades, ending the crisis.
Job Counts vs. Job Nature Distinction
- Repeated fears of mass technological unemployment historically proved misplaced; unemployment stayed low after past revolutions.
- Susskind warns this pattern doesn't eliminate other harms technology can cause to work's nature.
