Understanding machine learning from economists' perspectives
Economists Mark Kamlet of Carnegie Mellon University and Kartik Athreya of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond relayed their views of how changes in technology will continue to rapidly evolve and disrupt the labor market and our workforce in significant ways. They emphasized the critical importance of advanced training and education to each individual’s lifelong economic resiliency.
“We learned today, both how academics, but maybe more importantly, how practitioners in industry and higher education, just how important it will be to create an ecosystem that bolsters problem-solving and the ability to work in teams and communicate,” said Kartik Athreya, Research Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “While those skills may only have been optimal for a path to a comfortable life, they will now be essential.”
“We learned today, both how academics, but maybe more importantly, how practitioners in industry and higher education, just how important it will be to create an ecosystem that bolsters problem-solving and the ability to work in teams and communicate,” said Kartik Athreya, Research Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “While those skills may only have been optimal for a path to a comfortable life, they will now be essential.”
Jeanne Milliken Bonds, senior manager, regional community development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond added: “The Focus Forward program married the format of a long-successful North Carolina “Emerging Issues” program with the next steps of West Virginia Forward, a collaborative effort between academia and the state commerce department. By bringing together thought leaders together to focus on machine learning and its effects on the West Virginians in the workforce now, and those in the future workforce, we were able to start to identify new policy options to prepare people and systems.”