The economics of superintelligence

If Silicon Valley’s predictions are even close to being accurate, expect unprecedented upheaval

FOR MOST of history the safest prediction has been that things will continue much as they are. But sometimes the future is unrecognisable. The tech bosses of Silicon Valley say humanity is approaching such a moment, because in just a few years artificial intelligence (AI) will be better than the average human being at all cognitive tasks. You do not need to put high odds on them being right to see that their claim needs thinking through. Were it to come true, the consequences would be as great as anything in the history of the world economy.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The economics of superintelligence”

From the July 26th 2025 edition

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