VoxEU Video Productivity and Innovation

How to make sure technology improves our lives

Robots, AI, and social media are now imbedded in our daily lives. But is such technology having negative effects on society? Daron Acemoglu’s research focuses on society’s choice on the positive vs negative direction of technology, looking into the incentives that shape this. Looking at human history, technological changes have created prosperity, but with important caveats. For instance, industrialisation caused vast poverty before starting to improve living standards. Acemoglu’s research shows that setting board guidelines, regulations, and some taxation, in order to guide the direction of technological change, has revealed very productive in the healthcare and climate change sectors. A success story that can be repeated in other areas.