What history can tell us about AI's economic impact?

Julian Jacobs recently sat down for a discussion with Carl Benedikt Frey, an economic historian and professor of AI & Work at the University of Oxford. Carl’s books include The Technology Trap and the newly-released How Progress Ends, where he challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable. In the discussion, we explore the lessons from previous technological shocks, and their relevance, or not, for AI. We explore the growing evidence base on AI’s economic impact and conclude with Carl’s rapid-fire forecasts. The below is a condensed and edited version of the discussion. Enjoy! Thanks for reading AI Policy Perspectives ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Julian: Let’s start at the beginning. What initially drew you to studying the economic impacts of technology, and AI in particular? Which questions were most interesting to you, and have those changed? Carl: When you consider that being human was miserable for a lon

Julian Jacobs recently sat down for a discussion with Carl Benedikt Frey, an economic historian and professor of AI & Work at the University of Oxford. Carl’s books include The Technology Trap and the newly-released How Progress Ends, where he challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable. In the discussion, we explore the lessons from previous technological shocks, and their relevance, or not, for AI. We explore the growing evidence base on AI’s economic impact and conclude with Carl’s rapid-fire forecasts. The below is a condensed and edited versio