Social media may have its merits, but as far as advanced economies are concerned, it has failed to add significantly to output and wealth. In any case, for Professor Gordon, the easy gains of the IT revolution â?? back-office automation, supermarket checkouts, and so on â?? have largely been and gone.
To my mind, this is where his theories break down. Most of those who actually work in computing think the IT revolution has barely begun. The potential productivity gains from smart machines driven by artificial intelligence â?? or to use the more emotive term, robots â?? are at least as great as any of the other revolutions.
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