AI Elites Might
Rao's mercantilism analogy is sharper than the usual job-loss panic: scarcity-thinking treats minds as stockpiles rather than engines of demand. We find the historical parallel instructive but incomplete — Smith's rebuttal to mercantilism took decades and real human misery, so even if demand for human thinking grows, the transition won't be gentle.… more
The deeper flaw: AI competes directly with cognition, unlike steam replacing muscle, so whether humans keep comparative advantage in judgment, taste and accountability remains an open question. Where the concept lands hardest is policy — chip export controls, closed-weight regimes and licensing debates already look quite mercantilist. Read it as a lens, not a forecast.
AI elites might hoard intelligence like mercantilists hoarded gold
Engineer Venkatesh Rao compares the fear of AI job losses to mercantilism: intelligence is treated as a scarce resource that elites want to control. But AI could boost demand for human thinking, much like early capitalism made people voluntarily work more. The article AI elites mig…
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The Decoder
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