Over the past decade, our students have met former steelworkers, entrepreneurs, educators, nonprofit leaders, clergy, journalists, union heads, and local officials in Youngstown. They have seen that when a dominant industry in a community disappears, what is lost extends far beyond paychecks.
Jobs disappear, but so do tax revenues, local businesses, and confidence in the future. Neighborhoods can become ravaged by crime and drugs. Young people typically leave. Those who remain tend to not only lose employment but also identity and purpose. Distrust grows toward political, economic, and educational institutions that seem unable or unwilling to help. The result: community and social bonds are diminished.
Artificial intelligence promises another economic leap in increased productivity and lower costs. As AI reshapes employment in customer service, accounting, software, legal support, insurance processing, and other fields, the consequences will be felt disproportionately in communities whose employment is concentrated in those occupations.