AI and future skills in the labour market

The past provides some guidance on how to handle the effects of technological change on society and the labour market. The question is how much. During the Industrial Revolution, some skilled workers lost their jobs as factories were built and machines gradually came into use. This was a period of rapid and tumultuous change in society. It was also a time of significant urbanisation, as the young and able departed from the regions to find better lives and opportunities in the cities. It was not inevitable, but the social changes thrust upon people led to new ways to organize work and to lessen the risks to which individuals were exposed: The establishment of trade unions, the introduction of suffrage for both men and women, the right to a pension and social security, to name a few. New institutions and safety nets were part of a process towards safer and more inclusive democracies and societies.

One lesson from the past is thus that societies may eventually find ways to