One of the leading experts on technology's impact on the economy has some bad news: AI is on track to do more harm than good.
MIT economist Daron Acemoglu is highly respected and a best-selling author. But his latest position disputes the notion widely believed by his peers that new tech always leads to everyone having a better life, Insider's Aki Ito writes.
Acemoglu argues new technology, in and of itself, hasn't been the catalyst for widespread economic growth that most have touted it as. In actuality, tech only benefits and enriches those at the top and harms broader society when left to its own devices.
It's an important distinction, Aki writes, as new technology has been pitched — particularly during the AI boom — as net-positive. Executives like to say innovations will empower employees to work better instead of making them obsolete.
But that equation only works, Acemoglu says, if the tech creates more new tasks than it takes away and there is a balance of power between employer and employee.
Unfortunately for us, we fail on both counts when it comes to the AI boom.
Acemoglu's research found that every additional robot introduced since 1990 has reduced employment by roughly six humans. That type of math doesn't indicate tech is leaving much work for the rest of us.
Meanwhile, the power dynamics between boss and employee have gotten increasingly lopsided. CEOs made about 272 times more than their workers in 2022, according to a recent report. And the percentage of unionized workers has dropped to a record low.
If you're banking on regulators coming to the rescue, good luck. In recent years, some members of Congress have lacked a basic understanding of technology, let alone something as complex as generative AI.
In the meantime, tech companies aren't slowing down, as they help themselves to plenty of our data to train their models. It's led to a "shadow war" over the information, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman said in a recent interview.
But maybe it won't be that bad? AI leaders like to talk about how everyone will have a tech-powered assistant.
Maybe that'll help us find ways to fill the hours of the day since we'll all be out of work.
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