
Education – And Its Limits
Economist Daniel Susskind, Mercers' School Memorial Professor of Business at Gresham College, argues that 'more education' remains the best available response to automation, but not in its usual form. He traces how generative AI has revived old debates about technological unemployment, distinguishing structural from frictional job loss, and uses the UK's mandatory coding curriculum as a case study in the failure of 'future-proofing' through fixed skills. Since future skills are impossible to predict reliably, Susskind argues for preparing people for uncertainty itself, returning to basic competencies and teaching critical use of AI tools. He also challenges when and how education happens, questioning the model of front-loading skills early in life and teaching methods largely unchanged for centuries. The lecture closes by examining education's real limits, pushing back against treating it as a complete solution to automation's disruptions.