The case for AI shifting economic value toward scarce physical resources

A post frames AI as “mechanisation for cognitive labour,” predicting that service output can rise even as routine knowledge work loses scarcity value. It draws a parallel with agriculture: productivity can grow while a sector’s share of economic value shrinks. The author argues that AI also increases demand for physical resources—data centers need power, grids need copper and chips need minerals—making energy, metals, infrastructure and productive land relatively more valuable.