The Knowledge Economy Is Over. Welcome to the Allocation Economy
AI summary of the linked articleDan Shipper argues that the knowledge economy is giving way to an "allocation economy," in which the most valuable skill is managing resources, including AI models, to get work done rather than knowing things yourself. He says people will move from doing the work to choosing which work gets done, judging whether it is good enough, and editing it, much as managers do today. Shipper notes that only about 1 million managers in the U.S., roughly 12% of the workforce, currently practice these skills, and that cheap AI could let everyone become a "model manager." He also cites Tyler Cowen's 2013 book Average Is Over, which predicted a split between workers whose skills complement computers and those left behind, and says the shift will be gradual. |
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2 comments  I know this metaphor from my pre-crypto life :) In 2017 we did videos for the new IKEA digital transformation kick-off, and we literally said: "With AI you will become a manager", and accompanied it with a picture of a guy who sits on a chair and a robot does things for them. I think this allocation metaphor is pretty apt. I'd add one more perspective here - just like managers need to know how to interact with humans by setting goals, connecting team members, and providing feedback, they'd need to learn how to do it with machines. So it's something way beyond 'prompt engineering'. It's finding the right AI models, building connections between them, and having a way to evaluate their work on an ongoing basis. Plus knowing when to put the human in the loop. Some things can be mapped from the human-human interaction, but there are some new skills to be learned here as well. |
