New technology and AI are transforming the labour market at an unprecedented pace, often reinforcing existing inequalities and concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. It is widely believed that without intervention, this trend will continue, creating a society where a handful of tech billionaires thrive while countless others struggle with low wages and job insecurity. But is this future inevitable?

What are the potential scenarios going forward? How can we rethink the way technological innovation is structured to ensure its benefits are more widely shared? Is there an alternative to a winner-takes-all model which creates billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk while pushing many into low paid work?

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the future of technology, work, and inequality. We will explore policy solutions that can help mitigate low intergenerational social mobility and spread the gains from new technology.

Meet our speakers and chair

Hilary Cottam OBE (@HilaryCottam) is an internationally acclaimed author, innovator and change maker. She combines new thinking with radical, concrete practice. Hilary lives in London and was educated at Oxford, Sussex and the Open Universities.  She holds a PhD in social sciences and is an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL. Her latest book is The Work We Need: A 21st Century Reimagining.

Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) is Distinguished Policy Fellow at LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, and an economist, writer, and political commentator and activist. Faiza has over 15 years of experience researching the trends and consequences of inequality, as well as designing policies and campaigns to address the causes of inequality and exclusion. Her book, Know your place: How society sets us up to fail and what we can do about it was released in July 2023.

Jack Stilgoe (@Jackstilgoe, @jackstilgoe.bsky.social) is a professor in science and technology studies at University College London, where he researches the governance of emerging technologies. He is part of the UKRI Responsible AI leadership team. He was principal investigator of the ESRC Driverless Futures project (2019-2022). He worked with EPSRC and ESRC to develop a framework for responsible innovation that is now being used by the Research Councils.

Aaron Reeves (@aaronreeves.bsky.social) is Professor of Sociology at LSE and an affiliate of LSE International Inequalities Institute. His work studies the causes and consequences of social inequality, with a focus on the political economy of health, welfare reform, and processes of elite formation. His research has been published in the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, The Lancet, British Medical Journal, and Socio-Economic Review. 

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: Visions for the Future running from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 June 2025, with a series of events exploring the threats and opportunities of the near and distant future, and what a better world could look like. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 19 May.  

The International Inequalities Institute at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

At LSE our researchers are using technology’s revolutionary power to understand our world better, looking at AI and technology’s potential to do good, and limiting its potential to do harm. Browse other upcoming events, short films, articles and blogs on AI, technology and society on our dedicated hub.

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