AI is increasing the supply of formal 'intelligence' (models, algorithms, automated reasoning) which makes tacit, place‑specific human skills (Polanyi knowledge) relatively scarcer and more valuable. The result is rising marginal returns, employment, and real wages in occupations that depend on inarticulable local know‑how, even as some AI‑adjacent roles suffer transitional churn.
— Reorients debates about AI and jobs from 'mass automation vs mass unemployment' to distributional shifts that boost pay for tacit‑skill workers and require long‑term investment in absorptive human capacities.
Tyler Cowen
2026.09.13
100% relevant
Cowen’s claim that the U.S. experienced a 'huge positive shock to its Intelligence' and that the Polanyi sector is slow to scale (examples: Centaur models aiding mathematicians but not replacing office norms), is the concrete element illustrating this dynamic.
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