Global Forum 2026: Programme
The Global Forum for AI and the Social Sciences 2026 | AI and Labour Markets
This programme features detailed information on all sessions and speakers across both days of the Global Forum. Explore the programme overview
Day one | Wednesday 16 September
8.15am | Registration
Please note that in-person attendance of the Global Forum for AI and Social Sciences is by invitation only. Registered participants can pick up their badges from 8.15am.
9.00am | Welcome and opening remarks
President and Vice Chancellor
LSE
9.15am | Introduction to the Global Forum for AI and the Social Sciences
9.30am | OECD keynote: Mark Pearson
Acting Director, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
OECD
9.45am | ILO keynote: Caroline Fredrickson
Director, Research and Statistics Department
International Labour Organization
10.00am | Table introductions
10.15am | Coffee break
30 minute break for tea, coffee, and refreshments
10.45am | Setting the scene: Philippe Aghion
11.00am | AI’s impact on the quantity of jobs
Director-General, Digital, Work, Society
German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
Chief Macroeconomist
International Labour Organization
Assistant General Counsel, AI Economy Institute
Microsoft
Director, Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Management
South East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre
12.00pm | In conversation: Helen Margetts and Fabian Curto Millet
Chief Economist
Google
12.15pm | Lunch
One-hour networking break over lunch.
1.15pm | Setting the scene: Luis Garicano
1.30pm | AI's impacts on the quality of jobs
Senior Economist
OECD
President and Executive Director
JustJobs Network
Director-General
Spanish Artificial Intelligence Supervision Agency
Head of Programme, Future of Work
Centre for European Policy Studies
2.30pm | Tea break
30 minute break for tea, coffee, and refreshments
3.00pm | Lightning talks: National perspectives on quantitative and qualitative impacts around the world
Director, Development Policy Research Unit
University of Cape Town
Vice Dean, School of International and Public Affairs
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Distinguished Visiting Professor
Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
Research Fellow
Korea Information Society Development Institute
4.00pm | Reflections: Regional perspectives on quantitative and qualitative impacts around the world
Director, Social Development Division
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Director of Human Capital, Social and Institutional Development
African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa's Development
Director of Economic and Social Policy
International Trade Union Confederation - Asia Pacific
4.30pm | Tea break
30 minute break for tea, coffee, and refreshments
5.00pm| Spotlight session: Research at the frontier
Chief Executive
Resolution Foundation
Head of Research
Cohere Labs
Head of Public Policy and Economic Graph, UK
LinkedIn
Global Lead, AI Policy Research and Partnerships
Amazon Web Services
5:45pm | Closing remarks
6.00pm | Reception
A one-hour networking drinks and canapé reception
7.00pm | Dinner and fireside chat
Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science
Institute for Advanced Study
President
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Day two | Thursday 17 September
8.15am | Registration
Please note that in-person attendance of the Global Forum for AI and Social Sciences is by invitation only. Registered participants can pick up their badges from 8.15am.
9.00am | Welcome to day two
9.15am | UNESCO keynote: Gustavo Merino
Director, Social Policies and Inclusion
UNESCO
9.30am | Setting the scene: Era Dabla-Norris
Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department
International Monetary Fund
9.45am | Policy responses to AI’s labour market impacts
Research Fellow
Korea Labor Institute
Chief Executive
Windfall Trust
Deputy Director-General, Economics Department
European Central Bank
Professor, School of Social Policy and Practice
University of Pennsylvania
Research Director
OpenResearch
10.45am | Coffee break
30 minute break for tea, coffee, and refreshments
11.15am | Setting the scene: Simon Johnson
Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT, and Chair, UK AI Economics Institute
MIT, UK AI Economics Institute
11.30am | National models for government capacity
Associate Professor
Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Business School, Chile
Director-General, New Forms of Employment
Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Economy
Chair, Committee on Labor-Management Coexistence in the AI Transition
South Korea's Economic, Social and Labor Council
Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy
Federal Republic of Nigeria
12.30pm | Lunch
One-hour networking break over lunch.
1.30pm | The role of trade unions in addressing AI’s labour market impacts
Director, Economic and Social Policy
International Trade Union Confederation
General Secretary
Prospect Trade Union
International Director
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
2.30pm | Parallel sessions
Includes break for tea, coffee, and refreshments
4.15pm | AI and the future of work: The role of human rights
Director, Thematic and Special Procedures Division
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
4.30pm | The role of workers in AI supply chains
Founder and CEO
AI Collaborative
4.45pm | Understanding and addressing AI’s labour market impacts
General Secretary
UNI Global Union
Dean, School of Public Policy and Management
Tsinghua University
5.30pm | Closing remarks
5.45pm | Reception
One-hour drinks reception