Expertise

Technology and work; artificial intelligence; labor economics; urban economics; entrepreneurship

At the Keough School

Yong Suk Lee is assistant professor of technology, economy, and global affairs at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. He is a faculty affiliate of the Keough School’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business and a faculty fellow of the Keough School’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Pulte Institute for Global Development, and Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

Courses

• Application, Ethics, and Governance of AI (undergraduate and master of global affairs course)
• Quantitative Methods (master of global affairs course)
• Future of Labor (undergraduate and masters of global affairs course)

Research and Publications

Lee’s research focuses on new technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics in relation to labor economics, entrepreneurship, and urban economics. His current projects explore on how artificial intelligence and robotics affect labor, and the governance and ethical issues related to these new technologies. Lee also studies the application of machine learning to examine socioeconomic questions such as bias, urban inequality and change, and the demand for skill. In addition, he examines aspects of technology education and entrepreneurship, e.g., education and mobility, and entrepreneurship and economic growth.

Biography

Lee is a faculty affiliate of the Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center (ND TEC). Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he was a faculty member at Stanford University as the SK Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Prior to Stanford, he was assistant professor of economics at Williams College. He earned his PhD in economics from Brown University, a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from Seoul National University. Lee also worked as a real estate development consultant and architecture designer as he transitioned from architecture to economics.

Recent Work

• The evolving impact of robots on jobs (Industrial and Labor Relations Review)
• When does AI pay off? AI-adoption intensity, complementary investments, and R&D strategy (Technovation)
• How does information about AI regulation affect managers’ choices? (Brookings)
• Does information about AI regulation change manager evaluation of ethical concerns and intent to adopt AI? (Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization)
• AI ethics, regulation & firm implications (Competition Policy International)
• In institutions we trust? Trust in government and the allocation of entrepreneurial intentions (Organization Science)

In the Media

• AI drive-thrus may be good for business. But not for the rest of us (CNN)
• Researchers find robots create jobs in long term (Robotics Business Review)
• The Dutch Tax Authority Was Felled by AI—What Comes Next? (IEEE Spectrum)

News and Blog Posts

• AI can stunt or complement the labor market ((Notre Dame News)
• Will a robot take my job? Notre Dame researcher says this view is overly pessimistic (Notre Dame News)
• AI and the future of labor (Dignity & Development)