“Technological innovation should be embraced,” notes a recent report from the Aspen Institute, a public policy and research organization in Washington. “Automation has been a largely positive economic and social force, and looking forward, automation will be necessary to feed, house, and raise the living standards of a growing and aging population.”

Still, the short-term disruptive impact on individuals and communities can’t be overlooked, the report says.

To better assess automation’s impact, the Aspen Institute takes a two-pronged approach, identifying the challenges for American workers and suggesting solutions. Here is a summary of the findings:

Part I: The Case for Action

“Overall, it is difficult to anticipate every disruptive impact technology can have. But the use of technology to automate work is easier to predict than other impacts because automation is based on machines doing currently identifiable tasks," the report says. "For that reason, automation is the lens technologists, academics, and others use to project technology’s future impact on work, with the understanding that the actual disruptive impact of technology could be broader and more unpredictable.”

The Case for Action reached four major conclusions.

Automation boosts economic growth, creates jobs and improves living standards, but it also presents serious challenges for workers and communities. A number of recent studies have taken a close look at the future of work over the next 10 to 15 years. For example, a December 2017 report by McKinsey & Co. examined in great detail the work that’s likely to be displaced by automation through 2030, as well as the jobs that are likely to be created over the same period. The report concluded that a growing technology-based economy will create a significant number of new occupations that will more than offset declines in occupations displaced by automation. However, many workers will see their jobs change, as future jobs will require different skills.

Moreover, given the increasing importance of talent in our knowledge economy, global superstar firms and cities will continue to attract a disproportionate share of the most ambitious and talented people, presenting serious challenges for the workers and communities left behind.

Investments in education, training and the social safety net have helped mitigate automation’s negative impacts in the past. Technology has been replacing workers and improving productivity ever since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century. In past technology-based economic revolutions, periods of creative destruction and high unemployment eventually subsided. Over time, these same disruptive technologies and innovations led to the transformation of the economy and the creation of new industries and new jobs.

“Investments in education, training, and the social safety net, along with a social contract between employers and workers that provided workplace benefits and protections, have helped mitigate automation’s negative impacts in the past and helped workers succeed in the changing economy,” the report says. These investments made it possible for a growing number of workers to achieve a middle class life-style and aspire to what we think of as the American way of life.

Recent challenges highlight the consequences of limited support for vulnerable workers. While we are hopeful that the country will once more adjust to technological disruptions, there’s no way of knowing for sure. “Today’s workers are especially vulnerable to the impacts of automation. Financial insecurity, an aging workforce, and falling geographic mobility, make it difficult for many to retrain and transition to new occupations following displacement.”

In addition, “Recent history has seen a reversal of efforts to support workers through economic disruption. Disinvestment in public and private sector training, a weakened public safety net, and reduced access to workplace benefits and protections have contributed to the slow and painful economic adjustment many workers and communities have experienced in recent decades.”

Artificial intelligence and other new technologies may lead to deeper, faster, broader and more disruptive automation. Technology is being increasingly applied to activities requiring cognitive capabilities and problem-solving intelligence that not long ago were viewed as the exclusive domain of humans. As powerful technologies like AI and robotics continue to advance, the impact of automation might well be deeper.

Part II: Policies for Shared Prosperity

The report’s second section outlines a concrete policy agenda to address four overarching objectives:

Encourage employers to lead a human-centric approach to automation. This includes expanding apprenticeships, worker-training tax credits and regional workforce partnerships; promoting new forms of worker participation in automation decisions; and introducing proactive strategies to identify and address potential issues.

Enable workers to access skills training, good jobs and new economic opportunities. This includes access to effective and affordable skills training, a system of lifelong learning, wage subsidies as necessary, and programs to promote entrepreneurship.

Help people and communities recover from displacements. Unemployed workers need to be supported through retraining, re-employment services and unemployment insurance. Governments should promote local and regional economic development through targeted strategies to help workers recover and transition and they should also invest in digital infrastructure.

Understand the impact of automation on the workforce. It is important to collect data and provide better information to key stakeholders so they can better anticipate the impact of automation on their industries, communities and occupations.

Irving Wladawsky-Berger worked at IBM for 37 years and has been a strategic adviser to Citigroup, HBO and Mastercard. He is affiliated with MIT and Imperial College, and is a regular contributor to CIO Journal.