Economist Tyler Cowen discusses the challenges and potential positive aspects of AI adoption, suggesting that discomfort and unhappiness among workers may indicate significant change and progress in the workforce.
The article discusses a visit to economist Tyler Cowen to explore whether large language models like ChatGPT will meet expectations, highlighting his broad interests beyond AI and the context of a podcast interview.
Economist Tyler Cowen suggests that the current productivity slowdown in the US is due to a "serious crisis of morale" among workers, possibly caused by remote work. Despite high demand, productivity growth has been negative for the past five quarters. Cowen argues that if workers put in more effort, employers should pay them more, but instead, pay is being cut and effort is decreasing. Cowen believes that productivity will improve when people return to their desks, at least some of the time. However, Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, argues that whether being in the office is more efficient depends on the sector and population employed.