The work of the future Building better jobs in an age of intelligent machines

Building on their joint work for the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, Autor, Mindell, and Reynolds present an excellent, easy-to-read summary of the ways in which advanced technologies have affected labor markets both before and during the pandemic. The text is organized into two parts to align with the driving idea that both institutional innovations and complementary technical advances are needed. The first part provides a broad overview of labor markets, the development of technologies over time, and the ways those technologies impact labor markets. Part 2 examines what is needed to reform US institutional policies with respect to technology and labor so as to bring the country out of its current state--too many low-wage jobs--and "towards [a] shared prosperity" in which workers can also benefit from economic growth. Most of the book represents continuation of the existing discussion from previous task force publications and thus covers familiar ground for those acquainted with the project. Nevertheless, the volume will still be a useful addition to most library shelves. The text features a foreword by Robert Solow, and notes are extensive. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. General readers. --Whitney Kramer, Cornell University