Important grants: $10-30m in funding for the global implications of transformative AI coefficientgiving.org/funds/global...
Request for Proposals: Global Health and Wellbeing in an Era of Transformative AI
coefficientgiving.org
Dan Björkegren
@dbjork.bsky.social
AI for developing economies. Faculty at Columbia. dan.bjorkegren.com
In my class on AI institutions, the first assignment was to fight over what the assignments should be. That resulted in chaos--which was the lesson. AI will disrupt many parts of society. My class asks: what do we build next? 🧵 danbjork.substack.com/p/the-instit...
The institutions AI will need: notes from class
Teaching AI futures at Columbia University
danbjork.substack.com
Will advanced AI allow lower income countries to leapfrog human knowledge work—or leave them behind? New essay here dan.bjorkegren.com/blog/2026/04...
The intelligence is plenty but the workers are few
Many low- and middle-income countries are preparing for AI to make information abundant. However, the frontier has shifted. Rich economies are preparing for AI to make some forms of intelligence ab…
dan.bjorkegren.com
AI labs are releasing great data on how AI is affecting the jobs of knowledge workers. But we have almost no data on how it's reaching the world's poorest. New post: statistics the labs could release next week, and what we'd learn. dan.bjorkegren.com/blog/2026/04...
(How) do the poorest use AI?
Frontier AI labs have begun publishing remarkably detailed reports on how their products are used. Reports from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Microsoft have documented not only overall usage, but also ins…
dan.bjorkegren.com
Billions of people still can't use AI in their own languages. Blog post: ideas for new data markets to close the gap. www.cgdev.org/blog/roadmap...
A Roadmap for AI That Speaks the World’s Languages
For AI to benefit all people, it will need to speak their languages and understand their worlds. AI works well in English, French, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese—but that leaves 4 billion people whose native...
cgdev.org
Some AI+econ opportunities coming up: 1. Schmidt Sciences grants up to $200k www.schmidtsciences.org/ai-at-work/ 2. Microsoft AI economy grants $75k www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear... 3. UChicago AI in social science conference bfi.uchicago.edu/events/event...
Do markets believe that AI will transform the economy? Interest rates offer a clue. New working paper: I find that long-term bond yields appear to shift in opposite directions after releases of open vs. closed AI models. (1/3)
My new essay is out in Nature: how can we learn the economic impact of AI in time? A few ideas for social science, including forward-looking experiments and piloting new institutions. rdcu.be/eUPN2
AI is transforming the economy — understanding its impact requires both data and imagination | Nature
Controlled studies capture only a fraction of the effects of artificial intelligence. Economists should work with social scientists to find innovative ways to fully grasp this fast-moving field. Controlled studies capture only a fraction of the effects of artificial intelligence. Economists should work with social scientists to find innovative ways to fully grasp this fast-moving field.
rdcu.be
Working on AI and human capital in low income countries? Submit to this symposium at the World Bank / GWU www.worldbank.org/en/events/20...
AI & the Future of Human Capital in the Global South: A World Bank-George Washington University Knowledge Symposium
How AI-driven innovations can help address critical human capital challenges in low-income and lower-middle income countries. Call for papers: Submissions due to July 18
worldbank.org
It's hard to plan for AGI without knowing what outcomes are even possible, let alone good. So we’re hosting a workshop! Post-AGI Civilizational Equilibria: Are there any good ones? Vancouver, July 14th www.post-agi.org Featuring: Joe Carlsmith, @richardngo.bsky.social, Emmett Shear ... 🧵
Post-AGI Civilizational Equilibria Workshop | Vancouver 2025
Are there any good ones? Join us in Vancouver on July 14th, 2025 to explore stable equilibria and human agency in a post-AGI world. Co-located with ICML.
post-agi.org
🚨The Agentic Economy🚨 new paper w/ 9 co-authors: what happens to economy with expanded agent use for both consumers & businesses? The architecture of agentic communication will determine extent to which generative AI democratizes (or restricts) access to economic opportunity arxiv.org/abs/2505.15799
🤖 Interested in machine learning, economics, and the state of AI?🤖 In September, I will teach a 1-week intensive version of my course on foundations of ML (maxkasy.github.io/home/ML_Oxfo...) in our summer school. Apply here: ouess.web.ox.ac.uk/september-su... Spread the word!
Foundations of Machine Learning
Research on machine learning, experimental design, economic inequality, and optimal policy
maxkasy.github.io
This is alarming. The US president is personally stating plans to remove people he personally deems to be "home-grown terrorists" to indefinite imprisonment overseas The same prison where he claims authority to send *anyone*, in secret and without criminal charges or opportunity for appeal
Danielle Kurtzleben@titonka.bsky.social · last yr.Before press came in — but while live feed was running on Bukele’s feed — Trump said to him: “home-growns are next. … You’re gonna need to build about 5 more places.” x.com/nayibbukele/...
Very important research. AI is better & cheaper for communities that don't yet use the web –– meaning it can unlock exponential gains for entire countries.
Dan Björkegren@dbjork.bsky.social · last yr.New working paper: Could AI leapfrog the web? Only 37% of sub-Saharan Africans use the internet. Cost is the #1 constraint. In a study with 469 teachers in Sierra Leone, we find AI works better than the web--and is 87% cheaper. arxiv.org/abs/2502.12397 Let's dive in... 🧵(1/X)
New working paper: Could AI leapfrog the web? Only 37% of sub-Saharan Africans use the internet. Cost is the #1 constraint. In a study with 469 teachers in Sierra Leone, we find AI works better than the web--and is 87% cheaper. arxiv.org/abs/2502.12397 Let's dive in... 🧵(1/X)
Applications are open for the Machine Learning in Economics Summer Institute (MLESI) 2025 are open! If you're a graduate student, come learn about ML/AI and its uses throughout economics. Apply by March 28. The application and more info can be found here: www.chicagobooth.edu/research/cen...
Machine Learning in Economics Summer Institute 2025 (MLESI25)
<span id="docs-internal-guid-53f97f20-7fff-b55c-c89c-4f85d663a48c" style="color: #39393a;"><span style="color: #000000;">MLESI<span id="docs-internal-guid-394e21c4-7fff-1437-16ff-fdbb1ce1d34c" style="...
chicagobooth.edu
Love AI and economics? The NBER Digital and AI spring meeting will be at Stanford the day before Valentine's. Two weeks left to send us your best work! ❤️ www.nber.org/conferences/...
Digital Economics and AI Meeting, Spring 2025
nber.org
New technologies allow--and may require--new ways of organizing society. How might education, economies, and governance be rethought for an AI era? That is the topic of my new course AI Institutions at Columbia SIPA.
