Carl Frey

Economist Dr Carl Frey looks at the history of technological progress and explains how it has always radically shifted the distribution of economic and social power between members of society.

Frey shows how the industrial revolution created huge wealth for some but had devastating consequences for large swaths of the population. Similar trends are being seen in the age of automation. Frey says automation could bring huge benefits for society just as the industrial revolution did. However, we need to manage the short-term impacts, which are already leading to rising populism and a fragmenting society.

Frey directs the programme on technology and employment at the University of Oxford’s Oxford Martin School and has acted as an advisor to the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Commission, and the United Nations. He is also author of The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation.