How ‘Meh’ AI Could Cost Companies More Than It Saves: Essay

Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu’s worst fear isn’t a future where artificial intelligence has taken over everyone’s jobs. AI that powerful may be unnerving, but at least it would uncork a tremendous amount of productivity. No, what Acemoglu finds truly terrifying is a future full of “so-so automation”: the kind that does allow companies to cut jobs but doesn’t deliver any real productivity boost. The tools are OK (at best) but never great — think self-checkout kiosks or automated customer service phone menus.

It’s a scenario that Acemoglu, a professor at MIT, has been warning about for years — and ...