Abstract

Recent progress in artificial intelligence (AI) – a general purpose technology affecting many industries - has been focused on advances in machine learning, which we recast as a quality-adjusted drop in the price of prediction. How will this sharp drop in price impact society? Policy will influence the impact on two key dimensions: diffusion and consequences. First, in addition to subsidies and IP policy that will influence the diffusion of AI in ways similar to their effect on other technologies, three policy categories - privacy, trade, and liability - may be uniquely salient in their influence on the diffusion patterns of AI. Second, labor and antitrust policies will influence the consequences of AI in terms of employment, inequality, and competition.

Year of Publication
2018
Series Title
National Bureau of Economic Research
Document Number
24690
Date Published
06/2018
Other Numbers
JEL-codes: L86 O3
URL
https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/nbrnberwo/24690.htm