Daniel Susskind

Research Professor in Economics, King’s College London | Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI, Oxford University
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Dr. Daniel Susskind is a bestselling author, a Research Professor in Economics at King’s College London, and a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. Former US Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers describes him as “a compelling, insightful thinker on the largest and most fundamental economic topics.” His research explores the impact of economic growth and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence on work and society. 
Susskind’s latest book, Growth: A Reckoning, is a lucid, thought-provoking and brilliantly researched guide to one of our greatest challenges: the tension between the promise and the price of economic growth. Over the past two centuries, economic growth has freed billions from poverty and made our lives far healthier and longer. Yet this prosperity has come at an enormous price: deepening inequalities, destabilizing technologies, environmental destruction, and climate change. Susskind argues that we cannot abandon growth but shows instead how we can redirect it, making it better reflect what we truly value. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the book a “tour de force;” former Governor of the Bank of England Andy Haldane, “a wonderfully elegant and authoritative explanation-cum-manifesto for what is perhaps the most important economic issue facing us today—the mystery of economic growth and what we need to do to solve it."
Earlier books by Susskind explore the impact of technology—particularly AI—on the world of work, providing pragmatic and optimistic guides on how we can flourish in the future. His co-authored bestseller, The Future of the Professions, argues that in years to come, we will neither need nor want professionals—lawyers, doctors, bankers, teachers, and many others—to work as they did in the 20th century. Originally published in 2015, the book was updated in 2022 to provide insight on the impact of recent technological progress. His 2020 release, A World Without Work, takes a broader look at the impact of AI on work and society. Described by the New York Times as "required reading for any potential presidential candidate thinking about the economy of the future," it made many of the most prestigious “Best Books of 2020” lists. His celebrated TED Talk, debunking three prevailing myths surrounding the future of work, has been viewed more than 1.6 million times.
Previously, Dr. Susskind worked in various roles in the British Government: as a policy advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, a policy analyst in the Policy Unit in 10 Downing Street, and a senior policy adviser in the Cabinet Office. He was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University and holds a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University where he is currently an Associate Member of the Economics Department.

Topics

The Growth Dilemma

Economic growth is responsible for almost all our greatest triumphs. It has freed billions from poverty, made our lives far healthier and longer, and brought an end to ignorance through better education around the world. But our pursuit of growth has also come at an enormous price — climate change, inequality, technological disruption. These costs are now far too large to ignore. In this talk, Daniel Susskind argues that we cannot abandon economic growth, but must redirect it, making it better reflect what we truly value. It is a revelatory account of the past, present, and future of growth – and how we must rethink it.

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The Future of Work in the Age of AI

Every day we hear of advances in AI, with new systems — from ChatGPT to DALL-E — taking on activities that, until recently, we thought only human beings alone could ever do: writing effective code and drafting compelling documents, designing beautiful buildings, and diagnosing medical illnesses. What does all this progress mean for the future of work? It is one of the greatest questions of our time. And in this optimistic and pragmatic talk, Daniel Susskind explores what lies ahead, drawing on his best-selling books, 'The Future of the Professions' and 'A World Without Work.'

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The Future of Work

New technologies have always provoked panic about workers being replaced by machines. In the past, such fears have been misplaced, and many economists maintain that they remain so today. Yet Daniel Susskind explains why this time really is different. Advances in artificial intelligence mean that all kinds of jobs are increasingly at risk. So how can we all thrive in the future? Susskind reminds us that technological progress could bring about unprecedented prosperity, solving one of mankind's oldest problems: making sure that everyone has enough to live on. The challenge will be to distribute this prosperity fairly, constrain the burgeoning power of Big Tech, and provide meaning in a world where work is no longer the centre of our lives. In this pragmatic and optimistic talk, Daniel Susskind shows us the way.

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The Future of the Professions

This talk explores two futures for the professions. Both of these rest upon technology. Traditionally, many people have imagined that only blue-collar workers are challenged by automation; yet white collar-workers are now within reach as well. In the future, we will neither need nor want professionals — lawyers, doctors, accountants, teachers, architects, the clergy, consultants, and many others — to work as they did in the 20th century. In this pragmatic and optimistic talk, Daniel Susskind explains why, and sets out how leaders in the professions can prepare to flourish in the decades to come.

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The Future of Healthcare

In this talk, Daniel Susskind explores two futures for healthcare, drawing on his best-selling books, The Future of the Professions (2015; 2022) and A World Without Work (2020). Both of these futures rest upon technology. The first future is a reassuringly familiar one – it is simply a more efficient version of what we have today. But the second future is very different – here, new technologies actively displace traditional healthcare professionals from their work. In the future, the profession will look remarkably different from today, and we will neither need nor want doctors and nurses – or lawyers, teachers, architects, accountants, engineers, consultants, and many other professionals – to work as they did in the 20th century. In this pragmatic and optimistic talk, Susskind explains why, and sets out how the healthcare profession can prepare to flourish in decades to come.

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The Future of Education and Training

This talk explores the future of education and training. Every day, we hear stories of new technologies taking on tasks and activities that, until recently, we thought only human beings could ever do: making medical diagnoses and driving cars, drafting legal contracts and designing buildings, composing music and writing news reports. To prepare people for the future of work, we have to radically re-think our education system: transforming ‘what’ we teach, ‘how’ we teach, and ‘when’ we teach. The challenge is that, at the moment, our educational institutions are still preparing workers for the 20th century, rather than the 21st.

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The Future of AI

Over the last few years, there has been a great deal of excitement about ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI). But at times, it is hard to distinguish between genuine advances, and the hype and exaggeration that often accompanies the technology. This talk explores the history and the future of AI, identifying the changes that really have taken place in the field, and explaining why they matter so much for thinking about the future of work. In decades to come, AI is going to continue to take activities that, in the past, we thought only human beings alone could ever do. Understanding why, and exploring the consequences, is a critically important task.

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Myths about the Future of Work

Over the last few years there has been a frenzy of writing and discussion about technology and the future of work. But the ideas are so sprawling and contradictory it can often seem like we know even less than before all this analysis began. This talk is a response to this uncertainty and confusion: it explores the different myths that have emerged about the future of work, clears up the mistaken thinking that currently clouds our vision of what lies ahead, and explains how we can prepare for challenging but exciting decades to come.

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Videos

This speech was recorded in the framework of enlightED, organised by FUNDACIÓN TELEFÓNICA
Daniel Susskind
Future of Work in the Age of AI
Daniel Susskind
Q&A with Daniel Susskind on Technology and the Future of Work
Daniel Susskind
‘A world without work: technology, automation and how we should respond’
Daniel Susskind
3 myths about the future of work (and why they’re not true)
Daniel Susskind

Articles

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Hurry up and fix the wi-fi
New Statesman
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Economist Daniel Susskind on AI and the Future of Work
Synapse Conclave 2024
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Citizens’ assemblies can solve Britain’s migrant crisis
The New Statesman
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Generative AI will upend the professions
Financial Times
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Generative AI will upend the professions
Financial Times
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6 Best Books On Artificial Intelligence — How To Educate Yourself In The Hottest New Tech Sector
Forbes
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Covid-19 has shown how easy it is to automate white-collar work
Wired
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The Pandemic’s Economic Lessons
The Atlantic
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‘Automation of jobs is one of the greatest questions of our time’
The Guardian

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Economics
Artificial Intelligence
Future of Work
Education
Technology Transforming Healthcare
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