Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the world, presenting new challenges and opportunities at the intersection of AI, business, policy and society. To foster collaboration among these fields, Penn State has established the "AI and the Economy Initiative," which will host its first workshop April 13-14 at University Park.
The initiative will bring together policymakers, practitioners and researchers from universities across the United States, as well as representatives from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission, to exchange knowledge about AI's transformative impact on the economy and society. Registration is required for this free workshop open to the Penn State community.
"AI is changing how we work and hire, how we shop and how we search the web," said Ran Shorrer, associate professor of economics at Penn State and a member of the initiative's leadership team. "It affects how we trade in financial markets and how firms set prices. It introduces a new set of challenges to governments, regulators and the legal system. The speed and scale of these changes are unprecedented, and they bring to the forefront a new set of questions and challenges."
Penn State researchers are seeking answers and solutions to these emerging challenges, drawing on and sharing expansive expertise across disciplines to address these challenges, Shorrer said.
"AI is spreading rapidly across society, reshaping how we live and work while raising important questions about markets, institutions and public policy," he explained. "Our goal is to bring together technical knowledge about AI with the frameworks needed to understand the implications for industry, government and society at large."
For this inaugural workshop, the initiative invited leading researchers from academia and the public sector whose work reflects the breadth of AI's impact on the economy. The program covers topics from AI in the workplace to finance and policy, and highlights contributions from Penn State faculty and graduate students.
"This event is designed for those who want to think seriously about how AI is changing markets, work, decision-making and public policy," said Chloe Tergiman, associate professor in Penn State's Smeal College of Business and a member of the initiative's leadership team. "With speakers from Penn State and other leading institutions on topics such as AI in the workplace, human beliefs about AI, competition, finance and algorithmic decision-making, attendees will gain both an understanding of current, cutting-edge research and a broad view of where the field is going."
AI and the economy are evolving together, creating a continuous cycle of innovation and disruption, according to Hadi Hosseini, associate professor in Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology Department of Informatics and Intelligent Systems and a member of the initiative's leadership team.
"But the impact goes far beyond markets - it raises important questions about access, fairness, sustainability and energy use," Hosseini said. "Addressing these challenges is driving new ideas and shaping how we design a more inclusive, digitally connected economy."
To build an ongoing forum for collaboration, the initiative plans to host future workshops on AI topics such as privacy, regulation, ethics and legal implications, as well as issues relevant to Pennsylvania's economy.
"This is a great opportunity for people across campus and beyond to engage with an important emerging conversation," Tergiman said. "The goal is not just to discuss AI as a technology, but to understand its real economic, organizational and societal consequences - and to help position Penn State as a place where those conversations are happening in a serious, interdisciplinary way."
