AI is reshaping the traditional relationship between technology and skills. Evidence from European regions suggests that as AI capabilities mature, the relative advantage of highly skilled workers may decline, shifting labour-market value toward specific tasks, human judgment, adaptability, and control over technology. The effects, however, vary significantly depending on regional AI capabilities and technological maturity.

Clinical AI performs impressively in controlled benchmarks but remains unreliable in real-world healthcare, with risks involving diagnostic bias, unsafe triage, skill degradation, and rising short-term costs. Safe deployment requires rigorous clinical validation, adaptive regulation, continuous oversight, and clear human accountability.

Lower fertility may not automatically weaken economic growth. Historical evidence suggests that labour scarcity can stimulate automation and productivity, offsetting a smaller workforce. However, today’s ultra-low fertility is unprecedented and could eventually reduce the number of innovators and ideas, making its long-term economic consequences highly uncertain.

Dementia creates growing health, social, and financial pressures, while cognitive decline can leave individuals vulnerable to financial abuse and loss of independence. Technology can strengthen financial safeguarding, but effective solutions must balance protection with autonomy, dignity, privacy, and meaningful co-creation with people living with dementia.

Digital health is expanding far faster than healthcare spending, attracting record investment and transforming care delivery. While these technologies can improve access and efficiency, they also raise costs, create integration challenges, and risk widening health inequalities if the benefits fail to reach the patients who need them most.

Fiscal consolidation may strengthen public finances, but poorly designed spending cuts can weaken healthcare systems and worsen population health. Evidence from Italy and across the EU shows that austerity measures are associated with higher mortality, lower life expectancy, and greater health inequalities, highlighting the need to protect high-value health services during fiscal adjustment.