The Op-‐Ed page in a newspaper or news website is the page opposite the editorial page, usually devoted to opinion and commentary as opposed to straight news. It is a public forum where columnists and readers can comment and debate. Similar commentary and debate now appears in blogs.
One of the goals of this course is to help you understand and develop your own opinions. Part of your role as an informed citizen involves making sound arguments about economic issues that matter to you and communicating these arguments effectively to others. This assignment will give you practice developing a convincing written argument about an economic issue for a general audience.
TASK
Read the article
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-chip-put-in-human-within-year-2020-5 (Links to an external site.)
and the article
https://thegradient.pub/the-economics-of-ai-today/ (Links to an external site.)
In class, we discussed how according to Solow technological progress is the basis for economic growth. Economic development typically transforms human lives in ways that are hard to predict. Artificial Intelligence and advances in technology today are probably very different than the technological advancements from the late 1950’s when Solow was writing.
The articles above describe a new technological development pursued by Elon Musk aimed at increasing the rate we communicate with computers. Essentially he argues that the only way for humans not to become obsolete in the age of AI is to develop a symbiotic relationship. In order to do that, it’s necessary to increase the rate at which we can communicate with computers via the insertion of a microchip in the brain.
The second article discuss more generally the economic implications of the development of AI
Write an Op Ed editorial where you take a position on the future of AI and humanity’s development. Will Musk’s new technological advancement lead to higher living standards? What are the economic implications of AI? The articles are meant to get you started to think about this issue. You can focus your OpEd on Neuralink or more broadly on the issue of economic implications of AI.