Artificial Intelligence In: Knowledge Economy, Financial Sector, Macroeconomic Productivity, and Banking

1. Artificial Intelligence in the Knowledge Economy The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to fundamentally reshape the knowledge economy by solving problems at scale. This paper introduces a framework to study this transformation, incorporating AI into an economy where humans form hierarchical firms: Less knowledgeable individuals become “workers” solving routine problems, while more knowledgeable individuals become “solvers,” assisting workers with exceptional problems. We model AI as a technology that transforms computing power into “AI agents,” which can either operate autonomously (as co-workers or solvers/co-pilots) or non-autonomously (only as co-pilots). We show that basic autonomous AI displaces humans towards specialized problem solving, leading to smaller, less productive, and less decentralized firms. In contrast, advanced autonomous AI reallocates humans to routine work, resulting in larger, more productive, and more decentralized firms. While autonomo...