The University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research (LISER) recently organised a conference exploring the effects of political decisions on society and the labour market, as well as the influence of artificial intelligence (AI).

One of the invited speakers was Guido Imbens, the recipient of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics and a professor of economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Imbens has conducted extensive research on these subjects.

The Nobel laureate focused on investigating the impact of AI on productivity in the workplace. Contrary to some concerns, Imbens highlighted that AI can serve as a support rather than a replacement in certain contexts. For instance, at call centres, AI systems can aid customer service representatives by answering queries and providing assistance.

RTL

© René Pfeiffer

While job displacement may occur in certain sectors due to automation, new employment opportunities simultaneously emerge, necessitating individuals to undergo new forms of training to adapt to changing demands.

In addition, the conference delved into the role of AI in election campaigns and the potential benefits it brings in terms of providing precise projections.

However, the dissemination of automatically generated fake news poses a significant risk in this context. Efforts are underway to develop methods that can better detect and combat this issue in the future.

The conference also facilitated engaging discussions between economists and various politicians, fostering an exchange of ideas.

Aline Muller, Director General of LISER, expressed enthusiasm about the fruitful discussions and emphasised the importance of further developing tools at LISER to address the government's questions and provide valuable advice during future crises and transformative periods.

During his talk, Imbens also discussed the significance of fostering collaboration between political actors and technology companies with the invited politicians.

RTL

© René Pfeiffer