Keynote Speeches

On July 9, Professor Karen Macours from the Paris School of Economics delivered a keynote speech entitled “Improving Rural Incomes through Skills: Current and Future Generations.” Focusing on rural economic development and the challenge of increasing household incomes, the speech examined the critical role and long-term value of skills development in improving rural residents’ economic prospects from the perspectives of both current and future generations.

Keynote Speech by Professor Karen Macours

On July 10, Professor David Autor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology delivered a keynote speech entitled “It’s About Time: Predicting AI-Automation and Expertise Demands from Task Durations.” The study innovatively adopted expertise and skill barriers as the central analytical framework and combined extensive micro-level occupational task data to systematically examine the risks of AI-driven automation across different types of work. It precisely distinguished routine tasks that are more susceptible to technological substitution from skill-intensive tasks requiring advanced expertise and possessing stronger barriers to replacement. The research further explored the underlying relationships among task duration, job complexity, the likelihood of AI substitution, and the evolving demand for specialized talent in the labor market.

Keynote Speech by Professor David Autor