An expert in artificial intelligence will explore the impact of technology replacing jobs and services at the next Futures lecture.
Professor Frank Pasquale of the University of Maryland will deliver the second lecture of the EFI series on 12 July.
During the event, he will warn that cost-cutting measures in machinery could have negative consequences for society.
Event Details
Professor Frank Pasquale Future Lecture: From Cost Disease to Cost Cure: Embracing Expensive Automation
4pm, 12 July.
West Court, Edinburgh College of Art Main Building.
Tickets are free, and the event is open to all.
Experts warning
During the lecture, Professor Pasquale will highlight economists’ concerns that services – such as healthcare, finance and education – become increasingly expensive despite their productivity maintaining a similar level.
Professor Pasquale will argue that the current austerity measures in automation – the mechanical imitation of human labour – cannot be a sustainable solution.
Low-cost machinery will eventually break down, leading to poor service infrastructure.
Alternative solution
Professor Pasquale will provide an alternative solution: high-quality, data-driven improvements in the service sector.
He says that although this would be expensive, it would prevent the negative consequences of fast-paced, cost-cutting automation, such as widespread unemployment.
Influential academic
Pasquale is a Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
He is an expert on artificial intelligence and the consequences of increasing levels of automation in society.
His book, The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms that Control Money and Information, has received critical acclaim.
Professor Pasquale’s expertise has led government officials in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union to seek his advice on a variety of policy issues, such as health care, internet, finance and technology.
