Honorary doctor lecture at Uppsala University

Welcome to the open lectures with the 2025 Honorary Doctors of Social Sciences.

• Introduction by Annika Waern, Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
  
• ”The Global Classroom in an unstable and deglobalising world”
  Duncan Ross, Professor of Economic and Social History, Dean of Learning and Teaching and Deputy Head of the College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow.
  
  This lecture starts by considering the events of November 1989 and the consequent 'End of History'. The emergent globalisation took on the characteristics of liberal and neoliberal philosophy, but the twin notions of inevitability and market hegemony have been rightly challenged. GLOCAL, an EU funded Erasmus Mundus International Masters programme based in Glasgow brings together seven universities, including Uppsala, from across three continents, explores the tensions, complementarities and paradoxes of local competitive advantage in a global economy. Three conclusions emerge. First, local conditions, institutions and histories determine the nature and extent of integration with the current global economy. Second, in a world focused on STEM disciplines and where AI represents an existential challenge to Universities, deep understanding of social science questions and careful, detailed reading of history are central to making sense of the world. And third, a global classroom brings a multitude of perspectives and insights: giving students the space to discuss, debate and reflect encourages them to think and to develop the skills to navigate a challenging, uncertain and difficult future.
  
  Promotional host: Anders Ögren
  
  
• Short break
  
  
• AI, Productivity and Work: Early Evidence and a Research Agenda for Transformative AI
  Erik Brynjolfsson, Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professor and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), and Director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
  
  Advances in artificial intelligence—especially generative AI—are transforming how work is organized, how value is created, and who benefits. In this lecture, I will present emerging evidence on the productivity effects of AI, drawing on firm- and worker-level studies. I will connect this to new approaches to measuring welfare, including GDP-B, and discuss how they can better capture the consumer and quality benefits of AI that traditional metrics miss. I will highlight how AI is already reshaping tasks, wages, and career trajectories—especially for early-career, highly exposed workers—underscoring both opportunities and risks. I conclude by outlining a research agenda for the economics of transformative AI and sketching a path where AI augments human capabilities and expands the space for creativity, learning, and meaningful work.
  
  Promotional host: Oskar Nordström Skans