The AI Dilemma: Growth versus Existential Risk
Charles I. Jones · American Economic Review Insights · 26 Nov 2024
Where this sits in the debate
- Will AI actually boost productivity and growth? · its finding: it depends (why studies differ)
- Should governments act on AI now? · its finding: it depends (why studies differ)
Direction of the finding as read from the abstract by an AI model (AI-written).
Abstract
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they may increase economic growth as AI augments our ability to innovate. On the other hand, many experts worry that these advances entail existential risk: creating a superintelligence misaligned with human values could lead to catastrophic outcomes, even possibly human extinction. This paper considers the optimal use of AI technology in the presence of these opportunities and risks. Under what conditions should we continue the rapid progress of AI, and under what conditions should we stop? (JEL D11, D81, H43, I31, O31)
About this publication
Leading field journal. A leading journal in economics or a neighbouring field (on the Tinbergen Institute’s A list or near the top of the RePEc ranking), or a top-rated computer-science venue.
Placed by: Leading field journal. How sources are ranked.
- Published
- 2024 (23 months ago)
- Citations
- 42 (OpenAlex)
Citations in context
42 citations — 48th percentile among the 23 indexed papers from 2024 in this collection. Citation counts favor older papers; this compares only same-year papers here, not the whole literature.
□ added to this collection in 2026.
author affiliation matches seed institutions stanford, stanford university — part of why this paper is in the collection.
Related by theme, not necessarily by method or conclusion.
- A Research Agenda for the Economics of Transformative AI
Communications of the ACM · 2026 - Economic Growth Under Transformative AI
Annual Review of Economics · 2023 - Economic impacts of AI-augmented R&D
Research Policy · 2024 - A Framework for Economic Growth with Capital-Embodied Technical Change
American Economic Review · 2024
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