Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping society, creating new challenges and opportunities across business, policy and everyday life. To help address these issues, Penn State researchers recently launched the AI and the Economy Initiative, bringing together experts from across disciplines to examine AI's economic and societal impact and share insights with policymakers, industry leaders and the public.
The initiative's first two workshops, held in April and May, drew nearly 350 participants and sparked discussions on both AI's emerging effects on society and its potential to advance research and inform policy.
In the spirit of interdisciplinary engagement, the initiative brought together researchers from academia and the public sector whose work highlights the wide-ranging economic implications of AI. The program featured a diverse group of speakers and topics, with many presentations drawing on unique or proprietary datasets to advance understanding of AI's evolving role in the economy.
Key themes included AI in the workplace - such as how AI is reshaping hiring and altering demand for skilled labor - as well as regulation, including whether AI-enabled pricing may soften competition, whether existing laws can address such concerns and how regulation influences innovation. Speakers also explored the evolving interaction between humans and AI.
Beyond the technical program, the organizers created spaces to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. In his opening remarks, Ran Shorrer, associate professor of economics at Penn State and a member of the initiative's leadership team, emphasized the importance of building these connections. That message continued to resonate as the workshop progressed.
Mehrdad Mahdavi, Penn State Hartz Family Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and director of the Penn State AI Hub in the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, presented an analysis of possible trajectories of technical progress and highlighted Penn State's comparative advantages and capabilities.
According to Shorrer, Mahdavi's talk captured a shared sentiment in the room that Penn State has much to contribute to the ongoing AI transformation, and new forms of cross-disciplinary collaboration will be essential to that effort.
Penn State's AI and the Economy Initiative is establishing itself as a leader in this space - both as a hub for cutting-edge research and as a gathering place for national and international scholars to discuss and disseminate their work.
The fall schedule of events will soon be announced on the AI and the Economy Initiative website.
Penn State is shaping the future of higher education in the age of artificial intelligence. Our focus is on human-centered, ethical AI innovation that delivers meaningful impacts for Penn State and the broader community. Through visionary planning, strategic partnerships, targeted hiring and strategic investments, we will equip every Penn State student, staff and faculty member with the AI-related knowledge, experience and confidence they need to succeed in the AI-powered future. Learn more at psu.edu/ai.
