Separating AI’s Technological Problems from Its Capitalism Problems

AI represents the first time humans can perform cognitive work outside their bodies at scale, comparable to the steam engine's impact on mechanical work, according to an essay co-authored by Nathan E. Sanders and published in Tech Policy Press. The authors argue that if AI's cognitive capabilities become integrated into society over the coming decades, the transformation will be as profound as the industrial revolution, yet Americans remain largely unprepared for this shift.

This essay was written with Nathan E. Sanders, and originally appeared in Tech Policy Press. AI represents the first time we humans can do cognitive work outside of our bodies at scale. The only comparable moment is the early years of the industrial revolution, when new technologies like the steam engine provided a quantum leap in our ability to do mechanical work outside of our bodies at scale. If AI’s cognitive capabilities become integrated into our lives, businesses, and governments—a process that will take years if not decades—society will be as unrecognizable as the modern world would be to a preindustrial farmer. And yet, Americans—by a wide margin—...