Working Groups are the Partnership’s first line of programs and the primary means by which PAI brings together technologists, academics, and civil society representatives from its Partner organizations. They provide a forum for members to engage in frank discussions, to design and commission research, and to suggest best practices and guidelines to better govern the development of AI systems.

Today we’re proud to announce the launch of our first Working Group on AI, Labor, and the Economy (AILE). The group, Co-Chaired by Elonnai Hickok, Chief Operating Officer at the Centre for Internet and Society, and Michael Chui, Partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, brings together representatives from more than 25 organizations to discuss best practices and priority research for the field. Members of the group recently met in New York City for a day of project scoping and working sessions.

Technological advances in AI have the potential to generate great value for the global economy. They have also shown the capacity to influence the nature of work and the distribution of jobs, wealth, and well-being. While the AILE Working Group understands that there are myriad views on what constitutes good outcomes when implementing intelligent systems affecting labor and the economy, it is the group’s goal to empirically and analytically consider the potential challenges and positive impacts of AI. Group members will focus on studying, understanding, and deliberating best paths forward for guiding AI adoption and achieving broadly distributed, positive impacts of AI on society, the labor force, and the economy.

We look forward to seeing and sharing the first projects commissioned by the AILE group over the coming weeks and months.