CDT Digital Leadership Series -- Achieving Shared Prosperity in The Age Of AI: A Conversation with Simon Johnson

As we stand on the cusp of a new wave of innovation in AI, how do we ensure that the gains are distributed equitably across society?

In his new book "Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity," MIT economist Simon Johnson (and co-author Daron Acemoglu), take a sweeping look across one thousand years of technological progress and find that past transformations like the agricultural and industrial revolutions did not automatically lead to shared prosperity. Rather, they benefited a narrow swathe of interests.

As key decision-makers in how AI is deployed – whether used to replace or augment human capabilities – business leaders and policy makers play a critical role in determining whether we achieve shared prosperity. In a conversation with Center Director Vijay Gurbaxani, Professor Johnson will share the key insights from his book, highlighting impediments to shared prosperity in prior technology revolutions, and the changes to business and regulatory contexts that we should make to achieve equitable growth in the age of AI.


SIMON JOHNSON is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is head of the Global Economics and Management group. In 2007-08 he was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and he currently co-chairs the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council. In February 2021, Johnson joined the board of directors of Fannie Mae. Johnson’s most recent book, with Daron Acemoglu, "Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity," explores the history and economics of major technological transformations up to and including the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence.

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