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261 - Tyler Cowen: The Economics of Artificial Intelligence

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Oct 12, 2025

Guest

Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen, Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University, dives into the economic and social implications of artificial intelligence. He calmly addresses fears around AI destroying humanity, proposing optimism instead. The discussion explores AI's evolving role in employment, art, and even healthcare, suggesting humans will remain integral in these fields. Cowen emphasizes the importance of adaptability and collaboration with AI, predicting that those skilled in people relations will thrive as automation reshapes the job landscape.

01:07:36

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ANECDOTE

Cowen's Voice Clone And Exam Claim

Cowen uses a voice clone and claims AI would outperform him on a 100-question economics exam.
He predicts GPT-5 would likely beat him on such a test.

insights

INSIGHT

Alignment Is An Institutional Challenge

Treat alignment as an institutional problem, not just a single-model engineering problem.
Build legal rules, checks and balances, and competing models to reduce systemic AI risk.

volunteer_activism

ADVICE

Set Clear Copyright Rules For AI

Clarify legal rules around AI training and copyright to reduce uncertainty.
Allow AIs to read internet material like humans but restrict verbatim reproduction to keep innovation moving.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

State Capacity Libertarianism Explained

01:09 • 3min

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How Should Law and Institutions Guide AI?

03:43 • 2min

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Is AI an Existential Threat?

05:39 • 2min

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Psychology Behind AI Doomerism

07:55 • 3min

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AI, Copyright, and Artists' Concerns

11:18 • 2min

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Checks, Balances, and Global Competition in AI

13:12 • 1min

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Worrying More About Bad Humans Than AI

14:36 • 53sec

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Computation as a New General-Purpose Technology

15:30 • 4min

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Rapid Capability Gains and Labor Market Effects

19:51 • 1min

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AI Natives and Changing Career Paths

21:02 • 2min

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Will AI Replace Storytellers and Artists?

23:10 • 3min

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Human vs AI Media: Why Both Will Coexist

25:48 • 2min

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AI's Depth vs. Top Human Experts

27:56 • 2min

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How AI Will Change Higher Education

30:18 • 4min

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Will Professorships Remain Viable?

Teaching AI Skills and Prompting

40:53 • 5min

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Why AI Adoption Feels Slow in Firms

45:38 • 2min

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Confidentiality Barriers for Corporate AI Use

47:56 • 2min

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People Skills Become More Valuable

49:56 • 1min

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Average Is Over: Working Well with AI Pays

51:01 • 2min

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Balancing STEM Study with Networking

53:25 • 2min

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Wage Dispersion and New Winners

55:24 • 2min

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Writing for an Audience Increasingly Assisted by AI

57:03 • 2min

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AI's Impact on Student Writing and Assessment

59:08 • 3min

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AI's Limited Short-Run Impact on Food

01:02:36 • 50sec

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Computational Biology and Drug Improvements

• Mentioned in 24 episodes

Talent

How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World

Tyler Cowen

Daniel Gross

In this book, Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross delve into the art and science of finding top talent. They cover various scientific research areas relevant to talent search, including how to conduct effective interviews, evaluate intelligence and personality traits, assess talent in online interactions, and identify undervalued talent such as women and individuals with disabilities. The authors provide practical advice and unique interview questions to help startups and organizations find and retain A-level talent.

#2164

• Mentioned in 15 episodes

The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury is a novel by William Faulkner that chronicles the downfall of the Compson family, former Southern aristocrats, through four different narrative perspectives. The novel is set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, and spans several decades. It is narrated by the three Compson brothers—Benjamin 'Benjy' Compson, an intellectually disabled man; Quentin Compson, a Harvard student who commits suicide; and Jason Compson, a bitter and cynical younger brother—and concludes with a third-person omniscient narrative focusing on Dilsey, the family's devoted Black servant. The novel explores themes of time, death, and the disintegration of traditional Southern values, using a stream-of-consciousness style that includes frequent chronological leaps and non-linear storytelling.

#2103

• Mentioned in 15 episodes

Average Is Over

Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation

Tyler Cowen

In 'Average Is Over,' Tyler Cowen explains how the new economy is shaped by the increasing use of machine intelligence, leading to a significant gap between high earners who leverage technology and low earners who do not. The book discusses the erosion of middle-class jobs, the rise of a 'hyper-meritocracy,' and the need for workers and entrepreneurs to adapt to this new economic landscape. Cowen also provides insights into how education, job markets, and social dynamics will be affected by these changes.

#2096

• Mentioned in 15 episodes

The Great Stagnation

How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better

Tyler Cowen

In 'The Great Stagnation,' Tyler Cowen posits that the American economy has enjoyed 'low-hanging fruit' since the seventeenth century, including free land, immigrant labor, and powerful new technologies. However, over the last forty years, these easy resources have disappeared, and the economy has failed to recognize this shift. Cowen argues that this has led to a technological plateau, resulting in stagnant median wages and distorted political discourse. He also discusses the impact of the internet and other computing technologies, which, despite their benefits, have not significantly raised material standards of living. The book offers a critical look at the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and suggests potential solutions, including a greater respect for scientific innovations that benefit humanity as a whole.

Go to https://surfshark.com/robinsonerhardt and use code robinsonerhardt at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!

Tyler Cowen is the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman and faculty director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. A dedicated writer and communicator of economic ideas, Tyler is the author of several bestselling books and is widely published in academic journals and the popular media. In this episode, Robinson and Tyler discuss the economics of artificial intelligence. More particularly, they touch on whether AI will destroy humanity, how it will affect employment, whether there will no longer be a place for art in the marketplace, and more. Tyler’s latest book is Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World (St. Martin’s Press, 2022).

Marginal Revolution: https://marginalrevolution.com

Tyler’s X: https://x.com/tylercowen

Talent: https://a.co/d/ftqNWcn

OUTLINE

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:03 What is State-Capacity Libertarianism?

00:04:32 Should Government Regulate AI?

00:05:54 Is AI an Existential Threat to Humanity?

00:07:33 The Fallacy of Mood Affiliation

00:11:11 AI Music and the Velvet Sundown

00:15:03 Is AI Ending America’s Great Stagnation?

00:19:45 How Will Top-Tier AI Cognition Impact the Labor Market?

00:30:17 How Will AI Transform Education?

00:42:15 Does AI Doom Human-Generated Research?

00:45:21 Why Is AI Taking Off So Slowly?

00:48:39 Does AI Mean the End of Lawyers?

00:51:41 Is Harvard Just a Dating Hack in the World of AI?

00:54:53 Does AI Help or End Social Mobility?

00:57:03 How We Should Write When AI Is Reading It All?

01:02:24 Will AI Enable Us to Eat All We Want?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

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