Electricity is an example of a general purpose technology, like the steam engine before it. General purpose technologies drive most economic growth, because they unleash cascades of complementary innovations, like lightbulbs and, yes, factory redesign.
Erik BrynjolfssonComputers get better faster than anything else ever. A child's PlayStation today is more powerful than a military supercomputer from 1996.
Erik BrynjolfssonIn the global millennium goals, we're on track to beat and eliminate severe poverty. So there are lots of positive trends. I think the world in 25 years could be a much better version of the world we have today. But the role of humans would still be fundamentally at the center of that.
Erik BrynjolfssonThe kind of job where you come in and work 9 to 5, and where someone tells you what to do all day is becoming scarcer and scarcer.
Erik BrynjolfssonComputers get better, faster than anything else ever. A child's PlayStation today is more powerful than a military supercomputer from 1996. But our brains are wired for a linear world. As a result, exponential trends take us by surprise. I used to teach my students that there are some things, you know, computers just aren't good at like driving a car through traffic.
Erik Brynjolfsson