Tyler Cowen: Ask Me Anything

By Tyler Cowen

The inimitable Tyler Cowen joined us on Tuesday for an Ask Me Anything. In it, the polymath offered his views on the role of humans in an economy with advanced AI, the relationship between food and progress, the continued need for improved science policy, the value of biographies, and much more.

Heretical Thoughts on AI

By Cinera

Cinera summarizes and comments on Eli Dourado’s skeptical take on recent AI advances. She similarly perceives many productivity bottlenecks as non-technical issues, such as land use policy hindering housing. Accordingly, the technical benefits AI can offer may lie in the future, when social and legal conditions have caught up.

The Spiritual Benefits of Material Progress

Jason Crawford

Jason elaborates on the debate about whether material progress, and the growing pains it often entails, is a net-boon for our souls. Jason argues that it is, rejecting the notion that artisanship and vocation has been quelled by industrialization, that cities are bad for people, and that cognition has been standardized.

Investment, Work, and Vision: Who is Responsible for Creating Value?

By Sable

Sable provides the second in her series differentiating creating value from extracting value. She discusses the three stages of an endeavor —investment, labor, and vision— and the importance of the visionary (in the form of a founder, leader, or engineer) also being the agent responsible for value creation, because ultimately they get the credit, unlike investors or workers.

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Ross