Alex Imas

Director of AGI Economics at Google DeepMind and Roger L. and Rachel M. Goetz Professor of Behavioral Science, Economics, and Applied AI at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, on leave. He studies the economics of artificial intelligence and technological change, including AI’s effects on productivity, labor markets, creative work, adoption, and social institutions.

Relational Work and Capital Ownership May Decide Who Gains From AGI

Economists Alex Imas and Phil Trammell argue that the central question after AGI is not simply which jobs machines can do, but what remains scarce once machine-made goods become cheap and varied. In a conversation with Dwarkesh Patel, they frame labor’s future around demand for human involvement, capital-produced variety, and whether people or future agents satiate on machine-made goods. They also argue that redistribution will depend less on generic transfers than on whether households and countries can hold claims on the assets that capture AI surplus.

Dwarkesh PatelJun 4, 202624 min read