David Autor
LightNews LightNews
davidautor.bsky.social
David Autor
@davidautor.bsky.social
470 followers 1 following 2 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
On @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social, co-director @davidautor.bsky.social discusses his research findings on the impacts of globalization — and why these impacts can look very different for places versus people.

Listen here: pod.link/pitchforkeco...
October 3, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
📣 Come work with us!

📊 We're hiring Predoctoral Researchers to work closely with @dacemoglumit.bsky.social, @davidautor.bsky.social, and @simonhrjohnson.bsky.social

📅 Apply by September 21 to meet the priority deadline: shapingwork.mit.edu/careers/

#econ_ra #econsky
September 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social was interviewed on @cbsnews.com about how AI is affecting job searches, particularly for entry-level workers.

www.cbsnews.com/news/how-is-...
How is artificial intelligence affecting job searches?
AI has already become a disruptor in the labor market, as job postings declined over the past year by 6.7%, with entry-level positions especially hard-hit. But not all industries are affected by the p...
www.cbsnews.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
In @theatlantic.com, co-director @davidautor.bsky.social and James Manyika explain why we should insist on developing AI as a collaboration tool, not just for automation — and what this would look like in practice.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
A Better Way to Think About AI
AI can be used to automate tasks—and entire jobs. But it could also be designed to collaborate with humans. David Autor and James Manyika on why we should focus on the latter:
www.theatlantic.com
August 25, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains findings from his new research with Neil Thompson. Automation (including AI) can make a job more or less "expert," raising or lowering wages, depending on the nature of the tasks it removes and/or creates.

Watch the full clip: youtu.be/1lOOKvufS4w
July 16, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
"One of the great challenges of our era is to figure out how to create tools, AIs, that support people using their expertise better and learning faster."

Hear more from @davidautor.bsky.social on the Possible podcast with @reidhoffman.bsky.social: youtu.be/MGKUTVyqJlI
A Threat Bigger than China | MIT Economist David Autor
YouTube video by Reid Hoffman
youtu.be
July 10, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
The MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative is now the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work. Hear from our co-directors @dacemoglumit.bsky.social, @davidautor.bsky.social, and @simonhrjohnson.bsky.social about our mission and goals for the years ahead.
July 1, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
(1/4) When some job tasks are automated, do the tasks that remain become more or less valuable? 🧵👇

In a new working paper, @davidautor.bsky.social and Neil Thompson argue the answer depends on how much expertise is required for the tasks still done by humans.
June 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
A recent article from @stanfordhai.bsky.social highlights insights from co-director @davidautor.bsky.social on how automation affects jobs — and why focusing solely on a job's exposure to automation misses the point.

hai.stanford.edu/news/assessi...
Assessing the Real Impact of Automation on Jobs | Stanford HAI
MIT economist David Autor argues that focusing on exposure alone misses the nuances of how experts and nonexperts experience task shifts.
hai.stanford.edu
June 12, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
We asked co-director @davidautor.bsky.social if he thinks US tariffs and trade policy signal the end of the globalization era.

He explains: "I don't think globalization is over, but I think the US leadership of globalization may be over."
June 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by David Autor
sagepub.com
“I feel like if we use AI well, it's actually complementary to the knowledge that many people have.”

Economist @davidautor.bsky.social ‪of @mitshapingwork.bsky.social discusses changes to the labor market on a new Social Science Bites episode.

Listen now: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/06/davi...
David Autor smiling with the Social Science Bites logo on the bottom
June 2, 2025 at 1:30 PM
davidautor.bsky.social
I'm delighted to announce this next chapter for @mitshapingwork.bsky.social. Support from the Stone Foundation will enable us — and many others — to focus our efforts towards shaping a labor market that offers opportunity, mobility and economic security to a far broader set of people.
May 13, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains key findings from his recent NBER working paper, co-authored with our research affiliate @profdaviddorn.bsky.social, Gordon Hanson, Maggie Jones, and Bradley Setzler.

Read the paper: shapingwork.mit.edu/research/pla...

#EconSky
May 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social, whose landmark research defined the "China Shock," argues that the US should invest in its own capacity to build cutting-edge technologies. However, blanket tariffs will not achieve this goal.

Watch the full clip: youtu.be/tjdiEQdSmPQ

#EconSky
April 11, 2025 at 4:40 PM
davidautor.bsky.social
I'm honored that MIT Press selected my book with Elisabeth Reynolds and David Mindell for this award.
April 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
What makes work valuable?

Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains how expertise makes certain types of labor more valuable than others — but only if that expertise is both useful and scarce.

"Expertise is intrinsically a moving target ... It changes over time."
April 9, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
Co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains key insights from his recent QJE paper, which finds that 60% of the work we do today didn't exist in 1940.

Read New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940-2018: shapingwork.mit.edu/research/new...

Full clip: youtu.be/A3-nEP1oyeA

#EconSky
March 24, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by David Autor
cookedillustrations.com
What keeps us busy in an automated age?
Simple: "We create new variety and new depth to what we do," says @davidautor.bsky.social of @mitshapingwork.bsky.social.
In this article, we cover his analyses of how AI could commodity expertise, or make a little expertise go further.

#scicomm #genai
Two-page spread of the article "What keeps us busy in an automated age?", with illustrations of David Autor on the left, and an illustration of the "elevation of high skill" and the "suppressing of the middle skill" in relation to automation. Second two-page spread of the article "What keeps us busy in an automated age?". On the right, an illustration of "the handoff problem", whereby automation can degrade expertise.
February 28, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by David Autor
mitshapingwork.bsky.social
Our co-director @davidautor.bsky.social explains how AI, when implemented as a decision support tool, can potentially revitalize middle-skill work by extending the value of expertise to workers with less formal education.

Watch the video: youtu.be/66fYniAyCk0
Professor David Autor on how AI could help rebuild the middle class
YouTube video by MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative
youtu.be
February 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM