Robots and Computers Enhance Us More Than They Replace Us

Arthur M. Diamond

The American Economist, 2020, vol. 65, issue 1, 4-10

Abstract: Past fears that robots and computers would cause large increases in secular unemployment have proven unfounded. Some well-respected economists and other technology and labor analysts are worried again. Advances in algorithms have proven impressive, but experts on the mind and neuroscience remain skeptical about the extent to which robots and computers will be able to duplicate or surpass humans in areas of insight, judgment, and creativity. Certainly, for the foreseeable future, robots and computers will be more complements to human labor, than they will be substitutes for human labor, enhancing us more than replacing us. If we use the precautionary principle to justify heavy regulation of robots and computers, the benefits of enhancement will be fewer and will be delayed. JEL Classifications : J63, O33, L51, D83, O31

Keywords: robots; artificial intelligence; AI; algorithms; neuroscience; technological unemployment; regulations; precautionary principle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0569434518792674 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:amerec:v:65:y:2020:i:1:p:4-10

DOI: 10.1177/0569434518792674

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in The American Economist from Sage Publications
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().