O-Ring Automation and the Economics of Bicycles for the Mind - Cohere Labs in Conversation with Avi Goldfarb

​O-Ring Automation and the Economics of Bicycles for the Mind
Talk by Avi Goldfarb, Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare
Hosted by Zanele Munyikwa, Research Fellow, Cohere Labs

​Computers increased productivity but increased inequality. AI so far has decreased inequality within workplaces the adopt it. Computers and artificial intelligence (AI) are "bicycles for the mind”, or cognitive tools that can amplify human capabilities. This talk with use economic models of bicycles for the mind, task-based substitution, and O-Ring complementarity to interpret the empirical evidence thus far on AI’s impact on labor markets, and to anticipate how the impact on labor will likely evolve as AI improves.

​This talk will be accessible to non-economists but will draw on the ideas in three research papers, coauthored with Ajay Agrawal and Joshua Gans: Do we want less automation?, The Economics of Bicycles for the Mind, and O-Ring Automation. 

This talk is part of Cohere Labs in Conversation, a limited series of talks, in which Cohere Labs scientists and engineers host external researchers for techincal talks and Q&A discussions on subjects related to our current explorations at Cohere Labs. We look forward to sharing these talks with you, giving you a glimpse into the problems we're exploring, and learning together from some of the greatest minds in the field.