On Sept. 5, our affiliated Center for Sustainable Enterprise awarded Firsthand Foods the 2019 UNC Sustainability Award. Founders Jennifer Curtis and Tina Prevatte Levy met at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and developed the concept of connecting farmers to market. The UNC Sustainability Award recognizes leadership and best practice of a North Carolina business demonstrating initiative, innovation and impact in sustainability.
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies have the potential to significantly disrupt labor markets. While AI and automation can augment the productivity of some workers, they can replace the work done by others and will likely transform almost all occupations at least to some degree. Rising automation is happening in a period of growing economic inequality, raising fears of mass technological unemployment and a renewed call for policy efforts to address the consequences of technological change. In this paper we discuss the barriers that inhibit scientists from measuring the effects of AI and automation on the future of work.