AI and Productivity Growth

Question A:

Use of artificial intelligence over the next ten years will lead to a substantial increase in the growth rates of real per capita income in the US and Western Europe over the subsequent two decades.

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

Question B:

Use of artificial intelligence over the next ten years will have a substantially bigger impact on the growth rates of real per capita income in the US and Western Europe over the subsequent two decades than the internet has had over the past two decades.

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

Question A Participant Responses

Participant University Vote Confidence Bio/Vote History
Allen
Franklin Allen
Imperial College London
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
These kinds of innovations have the potential to improve productivity but actually using them in this way often seems to turn out to be difficult.
Antras
Pol Antras
Harvard
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Blanchard
Olivier Blanchard
Peterson Institute
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
we have learned that what appears to be tech breakthroughs do not always lead to increases in measured tfp...
Bloom
Nicholas Bloom
Stanford
Strongly Disagree
10
Bio/Vote History
I wish it would, but the data is against this. Fact 1: GDP growth has been slowing since the 1950s. Fact 2: this era spanned many amazing innovations. Fact 3: 10 years is far too fast for any big invention to change GDP. So I would love this to be true, but that's its not likely
Blundell
Richard William Blundell
University College London
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Botticini
Maristella Botticini
Bocconi
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Bénassy-Quéré
Agnès Bénassy-Quéré
Paris School of Economics
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Carletti
Elena Carletti
Bocconi
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Danthine
Jean-Pierre Danthine
Paris School of Economics Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
De Grauwe
Paul De Grauwe
LSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Eeckhout
Jan Eeckhout
UPF Barcelona
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
More growth relative to having no AI, certainly. Relative to growth rates from the past decades, that remains uncertain.
Fehr
Ernst Fehr
Universität Zurich Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Freixas
Xavier Freixas
Barcelona GSE
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Fuchs-Schündeln
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Galí
Jordi Galí
Barcelona GSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Garicano
Luis Garicano
LSE Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Gorodnichenko
Yuriy Gorodnichenko
Berkeley
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Griffith
Rachel Griffith
University of Manchester
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Guerrieri
Veronica Guerrieri
Chicago Booth
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Guiso
Luigi Guiso
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Guriev
Sergei Guriev
Sciences Po
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Honohan
Patrick Honohan
Trinity College Dublin
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Too early to say. LLM experience to date not all that encouraging.
Javorcik
Beata Javorcik
University of Oxford
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Krahnen
Jan Pieter Krahnen
Goethe University Frankfurt Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Kőszegi
Botond Kőszegi
Central European University
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
La Ferrara
Eliana La Ferrara
Harvard Kennedy Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Leuz
Christian Leuz
Chicago Booth
Agree
2
Bio/Vote History
Key question is how substantial the increase will be - confidence interval is pretty large (and hence low confidence score)
Mayer
Thierry Mayer
Sciences-Po Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Meghir
Costas Meghir
Yale
Uncertain
10
Bio/Vote History
Pagano
Marco Pagano
Università di Napoli Federico II
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Pastor
Lubos Pastor
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
3
Bio/Vote History
Persson
Torsten Persson
Stockholm University Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Pissarides
Christopher Pissarides
London School of Economics and Political Science Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Portes
Richard Portes
London Business School
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Prendergast
Canice Prendergast
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
8
Bio/Vote History
Propper
Carol Propper
Imperial College London Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Rasul
Imran Rasul
University College London
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Reichlin
Lucrezia Reichlin
London Business School
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Reis
Ricardo Reis
London School of Economics
Uncertain
9
Bio/Vote History
While there are solid facts on the diffusion of new technologies and their impact on growth, I thought that the estimates of the speed/timing over which these materialize has very large confidence bands.
-see background information here
-see background information here
Repullo
Rafael Repullo
CEMFI
Agree
2
Bio/Vote History
Rey
Hélène Rey
London Business School
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Schoar
Antoinette Schoar
MIT Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Storesletten
Kjetil Storesletten
University of Minnesota
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Sturm
Daniel Sturm
London School of Economics
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Very hard to tell how revolutionary this technology will be at this early stage.
Van Reenen
John Van Reenen
LSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Van der Ploeg
Rick Van der Ploeg
Oxford
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
One might expect AI to fundamentally alter the way business is conducted in many spheres of the economy. Not just replacing stuff done by humans before but also new possibilities leading to new growth prospects.
Vickers
John Vickers
Oxford
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
I’m assuming “increase” means relative to world without AI.
Voth
Hans-Joachim Voth
University of Zurich Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Whelan
Karl Whelan
University College Dublin
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
The sign of the impact is most likely positive but I don't we can know the effect is substantial. Is it a greater leap forward than the internet, which boosted productivity substantially for a few years before apparently tailing off?
Wyplosz
Charles Wyplosz
The Graduate Institute Geneva
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Where did social media growth effect go?

Question B Participant Responses

Participant University Vote Confidence Bio/Vote History
Allen
Franklin Allen
Imperial College London
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Very diificult to say what the effect of these kinds of changes has been in the past or what it will be going forward.
Antras
Pol Antras
Harvard
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Blanchard
Olivier Blanchard
Peterson Institute
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
for the same reason as the answer to the earlier question. We have a hard time assessing what the effect of the net was on pty. We must be careful about predicting the effect of AI.
Bloom
Nicholas Bloom
Stanford
Uncertain
9
Bio/Vote History
Not easy - basically who will win in a fight of King Kong vs Godzilla? The internet is amazing and impacts every one of us every day. But GDP growth has slowed over the last 20 years. Will AI be that much better - I would love it to be true, but doubt it.
Blundell
Richard William Blundell
University College London
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Botticini
Maristella Botticini
Bocconi
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
Bénassy-Quéré
Agnès Bénassy-Quéré
Paris School of Economics
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Also because it comes at a time of labor scarcity.
Carletti
Elena Carletti
Bocconi
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Danthine
Jean-Pierre Danthine
Paris School of Economics Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
De Grauwe
Paul De Grauwe
LSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Eeckhout
Jan Eeckhout
UPF Barcelona
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Fehr
Ernst Fehr
Universität Zurich Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Freixas
Xavier Freixas
Barcelona GSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Fuchs-Schündeln
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Galí
Jordi Galí
Barcelona GSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Garicano
Luis Garicano
LSE Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Gorodnichenko
Yuriy Gorodnichenko
Berkeley
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Griffith
Rachel Griffith
University of Manchester
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Guerrieri
Veronica Guerrieri
Chicago Booth
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Guiso
Luigi Guiso
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance
Uncertain
3
Bio/Vote History
Guriev
Sergei Guriev
Sciences Po
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Honohan
Patrick Honohan
Trinity College Dublin
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Javorcik
Beata Javorcik
University of Oxford
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Krahnen
Jan Pieter Krahnen
Goethe University Frankfurt Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Kőszegi
Botond Kőszegi
Central European University
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
La Ferrara
Eliana La Ferrara
Harvard Kennedy Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Leuz
Christian Leuz
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
I am reasonably certain that the answer is we don't know (hence vote uncertain). Besides, exact magnitude of the internet's impact on growth and in particular productivity growth is still being debated. It has likely increased over time, which makes comparison even more difficult
Mayer
Thierry Mayer
Sciences-Po Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Meghir
Costas Meghir
Yale
Uncertain
10
Bio/Vote History
Pagano
Marco Pagano
Università di Napoli Federico II
Uncertain
3
Bio/Vote History
Pastor
Lubos Pastor
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
3
Bio/Vote History
Persson
Torsten Persson
Stockholm University Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Pissarides
Christopher Pissarides
London School of Economics and Political Science Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Portes
Richard Portes
London Business School
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Prendergast
Canice Prendergast
Chicago Booth
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
Propper
Carol Propper
Imperial College London Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Rasul
Imran Rasul
University College London
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Reichlin
Lucrezia Reichlin
London Business School
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Reis
Ricardo Reis
London School of Economics
Uncertain
8
Bio/Vote History
Repullo
Rafael Repullo
CEMFI
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Rey
Hélène Rey
London Business School
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Schoar
Antoinette Schoar
MIT Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Storesletten
Kjetil Storesletten
University of Minnesota
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Sturm
Daniel Sturm
London School of Economics
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Van Reenen
John Van Reenen
LSE
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Van der Ploeg
Rick Van der Ploeg
Oxford
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Vickers
John Vickers
Oxford
Uncertain
3
Bio/Vote History
Voth
Hans-Joachim Voth
University of Zurich Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Whelan
Karl Whelan
University College Dublin
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Too many unknowns but I would think it probably unlikely.
Wyplosz
Charles Wyplosz
The Graduate Institute Geneva
Disagree
4
Bio/Vote History
AI seems good for clerical activities, but who knows?