Market pressure and the prospects for ‘pro-worker’ AI

In a reply, a commenter argues that market demand and expected productivity gains explain the pursuit of artificial general intelligence, while viable worker-supporting AI businesses could readily attract capital and talent. They argue that AI’s broad capabilities make it difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish worker-supporting technologies from worker-replacing ones in advance. In their view, changing beliefs or marginal capital tax rates would only moderately redirect innovation without more radical policies, such as a pause or stop. They concede that tax changes may shift labor’s and capital’s shares at the margin.