Melissa Kearney

Melissa Kearney is an American economist, the Gilbert F. Schaefer Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame, and director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group. Her work focuses on U.S. poverty, inequality, social policy, and the economics of fertility and families.

AI Works Best When Domain Experts Control Its Use

Josh Tyrangiel’s AI for Good argues that artificial intelligence is most useful when domain experts, not technology companies or models themselves, decide how it is applied. In conversation with Aspen Economic Strategy Group director Melissa S. Kearney, Tyrangiel says his reporting found real gains in healthcare, education, government, and recycling, but mostly as incremental improvements shaped by doctors, teachers, public servants, and other practitioners. His case is not that AI’s risks are overstated, but that the policy question is how to preserve human authority while regulating the most dangerous capabilities.

The Aspen InstituteJun 10, 202622 min read