Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ AI’s J-curve and upcoming productivity boom

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I read an interesting report from the Christensen Institute today about lowing production costs and increasing yield by employing technology and other innovations in rice production in Nigeria. The suggestion was that the result would be more affordable rice in a region that could really use the help. But why would we suppose the price would go down? It's far more likely the producers would keep the price the same, extract increased profits, extend their hold on the market, and put a lot of people out of work without producing any real benefit for society. Because price is not based on cost, it is based on the buyer's willingness to pay. The same thinking applies to artificial intelligence, discussed here. The J-curve signifies an eventual huge increase in productivity. That's great... for the producer. For the rest of us, "We're in this period right now where we're making a lot of that painful transition, restructuring work... You have hundreds of billions of dollars of human capital, of skills walking out the door."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 23, 2024 6:10 p.m.

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