SNF Agora Institute - The Hopkins Forum: Will AI Make Work Obsolete?

• Featuring Andrew Yang, Simon Johnson, Chris Hughes, and Rumman Chowdhury; moderated by John Donvan 
• Presented by Hopkins at Home and The SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University 

AI systems are now writing code, diagnosing diseases, designing buildings, and even generating art. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Google DeepMind, and autonomous robots are reshaping industries once thought immune to automation. Goldman Sachs has estimated that approximately 25% of the global labor market could be lost to AI, sparking fears of a job apocalypse.

Will AI usher in a new era of prosperity and leisure or a future of unemployment and inequality?

Some of those concerned foresee a future where AI becomes so efficient and productive that nearly every job with human laborers will be at risk, generating fears of mass unemployment. Other people see a tool that is transformative and can augment human labor. Even though there may be disruptions to segments of the job market, history has shown that even in the wake of large-scale shifts—such as the industrial and information revolutions—the individual drive to work remained powerful.

As AI is being implemented into our daily lives, we debate the question: Will AI Make Work Obsolete?

Featured speakers

Arguing Yes:

• Andrew Yang, Founder of the Forward Party, Former Presidential Candidate
• Simon Johnson, Nobel Prize-winning Economist; Professor of Entrepreneurship and Head of the Global Economics and Management Group at MIT

Arguing No: 

• Chris Hughes, Co-founder of Facebook; Chair and Co-founder of the Economic Security Project
• Rumman Chowdhury, CEO of Humane Intelligence PBC; Former U.S. Science Envoy for Artificial Intelligence 

Moderator-in-Chief: 

• John Donvan, Emmy Award-winning journalist

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University is an academic and public forum dedicated to strengthening global democracy through research, teaching, and practice. Our events create space for open dialogue and exchange among people with diverse perspectives. By convening scholars, practitioners, and the public, we seek to foster understanding, encourage inquiry, and support the conditions in which democracy can thrive.

The perspectives and opinions expressed by the speaker(s) during this program are those of the speaker(s) and not, necessarily, those of Johns Hopkins University and the scheduling of any speaker at an alumni event or program does not constitute the University’s endorsement of the speaker’s perspectives and opinions. Speakers are participating in this panel in their personal capacities and not on behalf of any branch of local, state, or federal government.
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