Comment by Daron Acemoglu

Many go even further. Ray Kurzweil, a prominent executive, inventor, and author, has confidently argued that the technologies associated with AI are on their way to achieving “superintelligence” or “singularity”—meaning that we will reach boundless prosperity and accomplish our material objectives, and perhaps a few of the nonmaterial ones as well. He believes that AI programs will surpass human capabilities by so much that they will themselves produce further superhuman capabilities or, more fancifully, that they will merge with humans to create superhumans. Contrary to all these claims, we should not assume that the chosen path will benefit everybody, for the productivity bandwagon is often weak and never automatic. What we are witnessing today is not inexorable progress toward the common good but an influential shared vision among the most powerful technology leaders. This vision is focused on automation, surveillance, and mass-scale data collection, undermining shared prosperity and weakening democracies.