Global Impacts of Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Superintelligence

Mehmet Orhan, Zeynep Orhan, Brady Lund, Nayana P. Madali · Preprints.org · 6 Jul 2026

Where this sits in the debate

Will AI actually boost productivity and growth? · its finding: it depends (why studies differ)
Will AI destroy more jobs than it creates? · its finding: it depends (why studies differ)

Direction of the finding as read from the abstract by an AI model (AI-written).

Key takeaway AI-written

A conceptual review of AGI/ASI's global economic, ethical, and governance impacts, mapping scenarios ranging from modest productivity gains to explosive growth and a post-labor economy with wage decline and weakened aggregate demand, alongside risks of misalignment, misuse, and concentration of wealth and compute among a few nations and firms. Its contribution to the debate is the institutional conclusion: current governance structures are judged insufficient for AGI-scale disruption, pushing the case for proactive international coordination rather than reactive national policy.

The paper in three steps AI-written

Written by an AI agent from the paper's abstract, which is the primary source and is quoted below.

The question

How might artificial general intelligence and superintelligence affect the global economy, ethics and governance?

The approach

A conceptual review of economic, ethical and governance literature.

The findings

The literature ranges from modest productivity gains to explosive growth and a possible post-labor economy; the review argues current institutions are insufficient and calls for international cooperation, social protection and AI capital taxation.

How to read it: review. A synthesis of existing studies — breadth over novelty; quality depends on what it includes and excludes.

Limitations and counterpoints AI-written

A conceptual review of scenarios about systems that do not yet exist; it offers no new estimates.

Abstract

This study examines the global impacts of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) through a conceptual review of the related literature. AGI refers to AI systems that may match human cognitive ability across multiple domains, while ASI refers to systems that may surpass human intelligence across scientific, social, strategic, and creative tasks. Recent advances in large language models, agentic systems, and general-purpose AI have intensified concern about the gap between rapid technological development and slower adaptation in economic structures, ethical principles, and governance frameworks. This review synthesizes economic, ethical, and governance literature to examine how AGI and ASI may affect productivity, labor markets, inequality, human autonomy, safety, and institutional accountability. The literature presents competing economic scenarios, ranging from modest productivity gains to explosive growth and a possible post-labor economy marked by wage decline and weakened aggregate demand. The review also identifies risks related to value alignment, catastrophic misuse, algorithmic bias, surveillance, moral dependency, and existential harm. These risks may deepen global inequality by concentrating wealth, computational power, and decision-making authority among technologically advanced nations and dominant technology firms. The study concludes that current institutional structures remain insufficient for managing the systemic disruptions associated with AGI and ASI. A stable transition will require proactive international cooperation, stronger governance frameworks, social protection, AI capital taxation, and alignment strategies that reflect collective human values.

About this publication

Preprint. A preprint — posted publicly before or without journal peer review; findings may still be revised.

Published: 2026 (3 months ago)
Citations: 0 (OpenAlex)