Research & Discovery

UVA professor named to list of most influential people in AI

University of Virginia economist Anton Korinek has been named to Time’s third annual list recognizing the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence. 

Korinek, a professor in the Department of Economics in UVA’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, is one of the leading figures exploring the rapidly evolving economic impact of artificial intelligence on the world and the challenges inherent in harnessing its potential, while preparing for the risks it may pose. Korinek is also affiliated with UVA’s Darden School of Business.

UVA professor Anton Korinek’s extensive studies of artificial intelligence and what it means for society – good and bad – lands him on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the field of AI. (Photo by Caroline Mackey)

His work showcases how AI can revolutionize white-collar work and paints a cautionary picture of the disruption that may occur if AI takes over jobs faster than humans can adjust.

“We are not prepared,” Korinek said. “The leading AI companies are developing a technology that could transform our world as profoundly as the Industrial Revolution did two centuries ago, but compressed into a fraction of the time. Back then, we created machines that surpassed human physical strength; now we’re creating machines that could surpass human cognitive abilities. Combine the two, and there’s little that can’t be automated.”

The Time list divided 100 AI visionaries into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Korinek was included in the “Thinkers” category along with leaders at OpenAI, Google, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The “Thinkers” also included artists, film editors and Pope Leo XIV.

Earlier this year, Korinek was one of a handful of international experts selected to deliver a report to the G7 nations of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom on how AI might affect the world’s leading economies.

Korinek predicts that transformative AI will deliver remarkable breakthroughs in medicine and the sciences, creating immense opportunities for human advancement. Yet it may also bring unprecedented disruption, particularly to employment. In worst-case scenarios, it could lead to mass impoverishment – an outcome Korinek calls both an economic and moral failure.

“If the United States is to maintain its technological leadership,” he said, “we need broad societal support for technological progress. This means taking care of those who are left behind and ensuring that everyone can benefit from this revolutionary technology.”

Korinek is also a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In June, he was appointed to the Anthropic Economic Advisory Council, advising on AI’s economic and labor market implications for one of the world’s leading AI labs.

Korinek’s scholarship and teaching underscores the emphasis the College places on deepening our understanding of – and providing context for – AI’s societal impact, Dean Christa Acampora said.

“This global recognition is richly deserved, and we are tremendously proud to see Anton Korinek recognized in the 2025 TIME100 AI list,” she said. “This distinguished accolade reflects his influential contributions and transformative work to better understand the implications of AI on our society, and we are grateful to count him among our esteemed faculty in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.”

With support from the College, Korinek is launching the Economics of Transformative AI Initiative, or EconTAI, the first dedicated research center at UVA focused on understanding and preparing our economy for AI systems that may soon match or exceed human-level intelligence. Together with UVA economists Basil Halperin and Lee Lockwood, the initiative engages in cutting-edge research, policy translation and public education, bringing together scholars to analyze how transformative AI will reshape labor markets, productivity, inequality and economic growth.

To assemble its third annual TIME100 AI list, editors and reporters examined the key stories in AI over the past year and consulted with expert sources and industry leaders for recommendations, according to the publication.