Information Technology, Automation, and the U.S. Workforce

信息技术、自动化和美国劳动力

• 批准号: 1449410
• 负责人: Jon Eisenberg
• 金额: $ 38.05万
• 依托单位: National Academy of Sciences
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2017-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1449410&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Information; Technology; Automation; U.S.; Workforce

Recent publications and media reports have revived longstanding concerns about the potential negative effects of automation and other applications of information technology (IT) on the U.S. workforce, and prompted new discourse about implications and potential responses. Substitution of technology for labor where cost effective is not a new phenomenon. Today though there are indications that IT's growing scope and scale of use and the discovery and use of new computing techniques such as machine learning is changing what can and will be automated. The ultimate limits to automation and how the workforce--and the nation--will adapt are not clear. To the extent that IT can assume some or all of the responsibilities of existing jobs, it reduces the number of workers required and changes the nature of the work that remains, e.g., as people increasingly work with automated assistants. The phenomenon is of great consequence for individuals, who must make decisions about their own education, training, and career development; for businesses and other institutions whose labor needs will change; and for policy makers, who must understand the implications for productivity, the economy, unemployment, the social "safety net," and future education and training needs.A National Academies study will consider the possible impacts of automation and other applications of IT on the U.S. Workforce. It will consider current knowledge and open questions about the drivers of increased automation; the types and scale of jobs that might be affected; the societal implications of these changes; the time frame for impact; and implications for education, training, and workforce development. Through testimony, discussions convened by the committee, a literature review, and committee deliberations, the committee will examine currently available sources of information, consider how different disciplines could contribute knowledge, explore where additional data would help, and frame research questions aimed at better understanding the phenomenon. The committee's consensus report will set forth a research agenda and describe types and sources of data and analysis that would enhance our understanding of the workforce impacts of IT and automation. The project will thus provide a more nuanced understanding of the workforce impacts of information technology, stimulate interdisciplinary research to improve our understanding, and provide information to inform future policy making.

最近的出版物和媒体报道再次引发了人们长期以来对自动化和其他信息技术 (IT) 应用对美国劳动力的潜在负面影响的担忧，并引发了有关影响和潜在应对措施的新讨论。在具有成本效益的情况下用技术替代劳动力并不是一个新现象。 但如今，有迹象表明，IT 的使用范围和规模不断扩大，以及机器学习等新计算技术的发现和使用，正在改变自动化的领域。自动化的最终限制以及劳动力和国家将如何适应尚不清楚。如果 IT 可以承担现有工作的部分或全部职责，它就会减少所需的工人数量并改变剩余工作的性质，例如，随着人们越来越多地使用自动化助理工作。这种现象对个人来说意义重大，他们必须就自己的教育、培训和职业发展做出决定；对于劳动力需求将发生变化的企业和其他机构；对于政策制定者来说，他们必须了解对生产力、经济、失业、社会“安全网”以及未来教育和培训需求的影响。国家科学院的一项研究将考虑自动化和其他 IT 应用对美国劳动力的可能影响。它将考虑有关自动化程度提高的驱动因素的当前知识和开放性问题；可能受到影响的工作类型和规模；这些变化的社会影响；影响的时间范围；以及对教育、培训和劳动力发展的影响。通过证词、委员会召集的讨论、文献综述和委员会审议，委员会将审查当前可用的信息来源，考虑不同学科如何贡献知识，探索额外数据的帮助之处，并提出旨在更好地理解这一现象的研究问题。该委员会的共识报告将提出研究议程，并描述数据和分析的类型和来源，以增强我们对 IT 和自动化对劳动力影响的理解。 因此，该项目将提供对信息技术对劳动力影响的更细致的了解，刺激跨学科研究以提高我们的理解，并为未来的政策制定提供信息。