The widespread adoption of AI by companies will take a while

The 2010s brought no shortage of miraculous technologies, from tablet computers and 4G mobile internet to new forms of artificial intelligence (ai)—Hey, Siri! But these had surprisingly little effect on the economy. During that decade productivity growth in the rich world averaged a measly 1% a year, holding down average wages. Innovative firms embraced new tech, but many less adventurous ones did not bother, and saw few efficiency gains as a result. The experience showed that technological wizardry and improvements in average living standards do not always go hand in hand.

Generative ai, its boosters say, will be different. Not since the invention of the internet has a new technology so captured the public imagination. The technology is consumer-friendly: within days of its release to the public, Chatgpt, the most famous AI chatbot, had millions of users. It is easy to see how this innovation could improve all types of work at all types of firms, from increasing the accuracy of doctors’ diagnoses to helping programmers write software code more efficiently.