Irving Wladawsky-Berger
A collection of observations, news and resources on the changing nature of innovation, technology, leadership, and other subjects.
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Category: Society and Culture
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A few weeks ago, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt hosted an online conversation about the impact that AI is already having on employment and how large a transition society may be facing with three prominent economists: MIT’s David Autor, the University of Virginia’s Anton Korinek, and Yale University’s Natasha Sarin. I found their discussion…
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“The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations to reimagine work in ways few had previously considered,” said “Remote-First Organizations: Practices that Drive Talent, Trust, and Performance,” a recently published report by the Institute for Global Responsibility (i4cp) in its Introduction. “What began as an emergency response has since become a long-term operating model for many. Remote and flexible…
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“Even as some instructors remain fervently opposed to chatbots, other writing and English professors are trying to improve them,” observed a recent New York Times article, “AI Is Coming to Class.” At the heart of the article is a debate now unfolding across higher education: whether— and how — university students should be taught to…
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“Americans have grown sour on one of the longtime key ingredients of the American dream,” said a recent NBC News article. “Almost two-thirds of registered voters say that a four-year college degree isn’t worth the cost, according to a new NBC News poll, a dramatic decline over the last decade. Just 33% agree a four-year…
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“The proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a global debate about its potential impact on the labor market,” said a recent article, “Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence,” by Stanford Digital Economy Lab (SDEL) Director Erik Brynjolfsson, Postdoctoral Fellow Bharat Chandar, and Research Scientist Ruyu Chen…
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“The term Embodied AI is having its moment in the sun right now,” wrote MIT professor emeritus Rodney Brooks in a recent post, “Alan Turing on Embodied Intelligence.” Brooks was a former director of the MIT AI Lab, and the founding director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). In addition, he has…
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A few weeks ago, The Economist published “The World Ahead 2026,” its 40th annual issue examining the trends and events likely to shape the coming year. Two years ago, the overriding message of “The World Ahead 2024” was the mind-boggling speed at which life was changing—from turmoil in the Middle East and economic uncertainty to…
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When OpenAI released the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in late 2022, expectations inside the company were modest. Earlier consumer-facing language models had drawn little interest—or even backlash. Instead, ChatGPT became perhaps the most successful consumer product in history. As a recent New York Times article, “The Race to Build the World’s Best Friend,” reported, in…
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Given AI’s continuing advances, many observers argue that we’re entering a new technological revolution. But are we? To make sense of the moment we’re living through, it’s helpful to step back and look at the broader historical patterns that have shaped past waves of disruptive innovation. Few scholars have done more to illuminate these patterns…
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“Artificial intelligence is reshaping economic systems at a pace we have rarely seen in modern technological history,” wrote Frank Nagle in “Revealing the Hidden Economics of Open Models in the AI Era,” a blog posted in November of 2025. Nagle is Advising Chief Economist at the Linux Foundation and a Research Scientists at MIT’s Initiative…