The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping labor markets, wealth distribution, and economic policies on a global scale. AI-driven automation, digital platforms, and intellectual property concentration are transforming economic structures, with profound implications for income inequality, power concentration, and job market dynamics. While AI adoption has the potential to enhance productivity and economic efficiency, it also raises concerns about wage polarization, regional disparities, and the monopolization of technological and financial resources by a small number of actors.
The aim of this research field is to explore how AI influences economic inequality, employment structures, and power dynamics. Among the many topics, this research will:
- Assess labor market transformations by investigating whether AI-driven automation is increasing wage polarization.
- Analyze AI’s impact on wealth distribution and power concentration by examining the role of digital platforms, automation, and intellectual property accumulation in shaping economic disparities within and across countries.
- Examine AI’s effect on Global Value Chains (GVCs) by evaluating whether AI-driven reshoring of production benefits or harms workers at different income levels and how AI adoption in global production networks affects wage structures and inequality.
- Explore AI-driven policy responses by analyzing how AI-enhanced tax policies (e.g., automated tax collection, algorithm-driven wealth redistribution, or Universal Basic Income) could address rising inequalities and mitigate labor market disruptions.
This research project adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from economics, business, engineering, and policy to generate innovative insights into AI's societal impacts. The overarching objective is to foster inclusive, human-centered technological development. By combining economic analysis with policy research and technological studies, the lab seeks to provide actionable insights that guide the sustainable and equitable deployment of AI.