Timothy Lee on AGI economics: demand will shift to non-automatable scarce goods
binarybits · x · 2026-09-20
In a Twitter exchange with Toby Ord and Ryan Greenblatt on AGI's economic impact, Timothy Lee argues the demand side is the crux: even with theoretical capacity for 100 cars per person or ten 50,000-sq-ft homes each, people won't buy that much. Spending will shift to categories that can't be automated — inherently human-interaction services (child care, counseling) or inherently scarce goods (Manhattan land, Taylor Swift concerts, Picasso paintings).
Related event: Debating AI-Driven Industrial Explosion: Greenblatt vs. Timothy Lee(19 posts)→
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