Death of Distance Redux? How AI is Changing the Future of Cities

At the dawn of the computer era in the 1960s, it was common to speak of the "death of distance," meaning that improved telecommunications technologies (remember the Picturephone?) would enable people to live and work at increasing distances from one another. That prophecy never came true. Instead, businesses worldwide embraced agglomeration economies-the productivity gains that occur when related firms locate near one another-triggering a new growth cycle for global cities. Could we now be in for a new death-of-distance era, fueled by the Internet, remote collaboration software like Zoom and Slack, and, most recently, the advent of generative AI programs, which make each of us creators as well as consumers? If so, how will cities change as a result? Panelists: Elizabeth Delmelle, Erick Guerra, John Landis, Xiaojiang Li, Susan Wachter (All Penn faculty)