AI Economics Must Avoid The Ethical Mistakes Of Climate Economics

Artificial intelligence (AI) has garnered significant public attention in recent months, especially since the groundbreaking launch of the large language model, ChatGPT. Some of that newfound attention has centered around the notion of an impending “AI apocalypse.” While these ideas emerged from online communities peddling fear-mongering theories unbacked by substantive evidence, the ideas are increasingly going mainstream, supported by journalists and moneyed interests intent on influencing policy debates. In an attempt to lend credibility to their narratives, there is now burgeoning interest in academic research that aligns with the doomsayers’ predictions.

While academic research is a cornerstone of intellectual progress, there is a balancing act to be struck so that it doesn’t morph into a tool that politicizes science in order to advance a preset policy agenda. We have already seen these dynamics play out extensively in the realm of climate change economics, and there is now increased danger that AI economics research will follow a similar path.