Conference: Workshop on Operational Factors for AI Diffusion and Productivity Growth

Award ID: 2444586

The Workshop on Operational Factors for AI Diffusion and Productivity Growth will convene leading experts from academia, industry, policy and other sectors to discuss the economic impacts of AI technologies on domestic and international workforces. Given the significant investments being made in AI in both the private and public sectors, this workshop will not only provide a timely forum for a discussion on the topic but will also help seed new interdisciplinary and multi-sector collaborations to contribute new perspectives and enhanced dialogue on the diffusion of AI technologies and their economic impact. The workshop will help generate further avenues of study to understand these impacts. While there is currently much discussion about the effect that AI diffusion will have on the economy, the actual extent of its potential real impact is yet unknown. Large upfront costs mean that only large firms have the scale necessary to justify adoption as most firms find the technical feasibility far exceeds economic feasibility. The direction of organizational change will also determine whether gains in AI diffusion accrue in ways that tend to replace or augment workers. The meeting will bring together industry practitioners, federal policy leaders and researchers in AI and economics to discuss the impact of AI on the workplace, productivity, and pay equity. Topics to be explored include the impact of AI adoption on productivity, the potential efficiency gains from this technologys deployment, the reorganization of production and changing the composition of tasks within the firm, and the generation or creation of new tasks and work products. The workshop will facilitate in-depth discussions and connect experts to find avenues ripe for impact and further study. The workshop will feature several prominent researchers in the field as invited speakers. Results from the workshop will be widely circulated via a workshop report which will include findings and future directions for impact and further study. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Chaitanya Baru