Acemoglu and Johnson discuss AI and economic prosperity

In their book, Power and Progress, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson explore the direction of artificial intelligence and its impact on the digital economy. The authors argue that the adoption of technical change is not deterministic, as scientific discovery does not predetermine how innovation is applied. Instead, the outcome depends on the characteristics of the innovation, the socio-economic context, and the institutional framework, with business elites playing a significant role in directing how technical change is implemented in production.

Acemoglu, a 2024 Nobel laureate, advocates for an AI that favors workers, proposing that technology should be used to increase the value of human labor. While his work has faced criticism for not providing specific implementation methods, supporters like Nobel laureate Angus Deaton defend the book as a well-documented effort to reconstruct a policy of shared prosperity and save liberalism by addressing modern economic challenges.