A curse on (intelligent) machines?

The historical record and recent research into the economics of machine learning, technology adoption, and the relationship between the diffusion of robotics and employment supports an optimistic case for the future of technology and employment. As technology continues to progress, the lines separating “labor” and “leisure” will get fuzzier. It won’t likely give us good reason to fear that artificial intelligence will reduce people to jobless penury. While new technologies foreclose some opportunities, they create new ones. That has been the case for the last couple of centuries. It is not likely to change substantially.