As part of the first session of the XXIII Annual LACEA LAMES 2018 meeting, Christopher Pissarides, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, in Memory of Alfred Nobel, in 2010, offered the keynote speech “Work in the Age of Robots and AI.”

The renowned professor of the London School of Economics and expert on labour Economics explained topics such as the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.  In addition, he discussed the impact of the new technologies in the labor market, the disappearance, establishment or restructuring of work in the robots’ era Pissarides mentioned  health and careas examples of potential sectors that artificial intelligence will not take on..

During his lecture, Professor Pissarides stated some of the changes of the current era and highlighted that companies come out with new functions as some of them become automatic. For instance, the automated teller machines (ATMs)which deal with customer relationships.

In addition, Pissarides pointed out that  new jobs are created in the new technologies sector as well as  in other  areas of the economy or in areas with low productivity growth such as health, personal care, education, leisure, real estate management, domestic and personal services, among others.

The first day of LACEA LAMES 2018 Meeting also addressed the following keynote sessions: Janet Currie with the topic Life, Death, and mental Health: “How Access to Care Helps Children”; Yeon-Koo Che, with the conference “Large Matching Markets” and Ellen McGrattan with the presentation of “Measurement Behind Theory.”