‘Life, Automated’ explores how AI is reshaping our world

Benjamin Jones knows his argument may seem counterintuitive: If artificial intelligence is significantly better than humans at the jobs it replaces, the economy will thrive.

“This process of creative destruction — new innovations and technologies replacing outdated production approaches — in the long run is what allows us to be far more productive and have higher standards of living,” says Jones, the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professorship in Entrepreneurship and co-director of the Ryan Institute on Complexity.

Take the combine harvester, for example. With a single combine harvester, farmers can now harvest millions of pounds of corn in a day, and with far less labor. That automation has greatly improved farm output per hour of work, brought abundant food to consumers and made the average income of farmers in the U.S. dramatically higher than before the mechanization of agriculture.  At the same, it shifted America’s workforce — not without some pain — and led to growth in other economic sectors.

As the inaugural guest on “Life, Automated,” a new podcast from the Ryan Institute, Jones outlined why AI is unlikely to take all our jobs, and how advanced AI can help labor thrive. 

“Automation increases productivity but also creates operational bottlenecks that only humans can solve,” he says. “It’s those bottlenecks that become the pace setters of the overall economy and command the highest value. By leaning into these bottlenecks, we can protect meaningful, well-paid labor.”

“You shouldn’t need to be an AI expert to understand the future we’re collectively building. This affects everyone."

Hosted by Ryan Institute Senior Director Jess Love, the podcast explores how AI and automation are reshaping everyday life through conversations with researchers, practitioners, artists and more. Each 30- to 40-minute episode is grounded and non-ideological, going deep without getting too technical. 

“You shouldn’t need to be an AI expert to understand the future we’re collectively building,” says Love. “This affects everyone. So the goal is to make this show very accessible — and even entertaining — without losing any nuance.”

Launched in 2023 with significant support from the Ryan Family Foundation, the Ryan Institute established Kellogg and Northwestern at the forefront of solving increasingly complex societal, business and market challenges by harnessing the power of big data and artificial intelligence. The institute is led by three Kellogg professors who are all highly recognized leaders in their fields, as well as frequent collaborators: Dashun Wang, a physicist and professor of management and organizations; Jones, an economist; and Brian Uzzi, a sociologist and the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change.

When will the next podcast be released?

“Life, Automated” is distributed by National Public Radio station KQED. After a six-week launch period with weekly releases, new episodes will be released every other Wednesday.

Episode 2: Does AI Have to Be Bad News for the Planet
Are you hurting the planet every time you query a chatbot? Kellogg economist Meghan Busse suggests that may be the wrong question. In this episode, we zoom out from the usual concerns about frivolous queries (and, for that matter, resource hungry data centers) to ask an even more basic question: is intense demand for AI locking us into decades of additional fossil fuel use, or is it accelerating investment in clean energy? Busse helps us sort real climate levers from symbolic ones, and explains why AI’s ultimate impact on the planet will likely come down to how we build and power it.

Episode 3: Chatbots Don’t Fool Us, We Fool Ourselves
When master magician Joshua Jay first encountered generative AI, he realized he was being tricked. The bot presented a near-flawless illusion of intelligence and emotion. But if anyone understands how easily the human mind can be manipulated and deceived, it’s a magician. Jay argues that when it comes to chatbots, we are actively fooling ourselves—which makes the deception all the trickier to avoid.

Episode 4: Our Chatbot Friends and Lovers
What does a healthy relationship with AI look like? Pat Pataranutaporn, researcher at the MIT Media Lab, explores how chatbots can either support or undermine human flourishing. Pat explains why it’s so easy to imagine a “someone” behind the screen and why chatbots that never push back are dangerous. He ultimately makes the case that AI should be evaluated based not on short-term engagement or productivity but on how well it improves the lives of humans.

Listen to next: Can we still build a green economy?