Invested

Issue Three: Readying for the Next Revolution: Robots, Resilience, and a Better Future of Work Issue Three: Readying for the Next Revolution: Robots, Resilience, and a Better Future of Work

About this issue About this issue

After decades of promise and false starts, artificial intelligence is poised to profoundly impact the American workplace. But what’s ahead? This issue of Invested explores how AI-based tech is already being used and the ways intelligent machines augment human initiative. We also discover society has to make some crucial choices, if we want to ensure AI delivers the most benefits to the most people. AI has arrived. The time to talk about it is now.

Introduction: Readying for the Next Revolution

We have some crucial decisions to make about how to plug AI into our workplaces if we want to prioritize equity, productivity, and innovation for the benefit of many more Americans.

Augmentation: The Promise and Possibility of Human-Machine Collaboration

Augmentation—AI designed to work with humans, not replace them—promises to improve job quality and productivity. In an audio feature, roboticists and researchers talk to Invested about augmentation’s design, challenges, and benefits.

Worker Vs. Machine: Are Worker Fears or Expectations About Automation Realistic?

AI hasn’t come to many workplaces yet, but reactions are mixed where it’s being tested and implemented. Invested checks in with workers and experts in different industries to get a sense of how people are thinking about what AI means for their work.

Future Farm: A New England Dairy and the Next Agricultural Revolution

Invested spends a late-summer day in East Canaan, CT, talking with a dairy farm owner, his manager-daughter, and two farm employees about the impacts of AI augmentation on their business, the work, the cows, and their lives in general.

A Lens on New Technology and the Future of AI in Manufacturing

No industry has seen more negative impact from robotic technology than manufacturing. But will this new technology actually become a net benefit in that industry? Invested visits the precision optics manufacturer Optimax to find out.

Recommendations: Jumpstarting an AI-Augmented, Human-Centered Future of Work

AI can’t work as a skilled teammate for humans, enhancing and complementing our talents, unless we choose to make that a priority. Here, Invested summarizes this issue’s key takeaways as this collaborative work begins.