The forum’s theme was undoubtedly selected partly in response to fears that technological advances will lead to widespread unemployment, as machines become advanced enough to replace humans in performing an increasing number of tasks. As MIT’s Andrew McAfee pointed out, historically, technological revolutions have “eventually led to more, if different, jobs”; but, with machines becoming increasingly intelligent, “this time may be different.”
随着机器能代替人执行越来越多的任务，担心技术进步将导致大规模失业无疑在一定程度上影响了论坛主题。麻省理工学院的安德鲁·迈克菲指出，从历史上看，技术革命“最终创造出更多、但有可能不同的工作机会”，但随着机器越来越聪明，“这次带来的结果可能存在差异。”