CANCELLED DUE TO STRIKES - AI-tocracy

Prof Noam Yuchtman (London Schoool of Economics)

Can frontier innovation be sustained under autocracy? We argue that innovation and autocracy can be mutually reinforcing when: (i) the new technology bolsters the autocrat’s power; and (ii) the autocrat’s demand for the technology stimulates further innovation in applications beyond those benefiting it directly. We test for such a mutually reinforcing relationship in the context of facial recognition AI in China. To do so, we gather comprehensive data on AI firms and government procurement contracts, as well as on social unrest across China during the last decade. We first show that autocrats benefit from AI: local unrest leads to greater government procurement of facial recognition AI, and increased AI procurement suppresses subsequent unrest. We then show that AI innovation benefits from autocrats’ suppression of unrest: the contracted AI firms innovate more both for the government and commercial markets. Taken together, these results suggest the possibility of sustained AI innovation under the Chinese regime: AI innovation entrenches the regime, and the regime’s investment in AI for political control stimulates further frontier innovation.

SPEAKER

Noam Yuchtman became a Professor at LSE in 2019, having been awarded a British Academy Global Professorship. He is a co-editor of Economica and serves on the editorial boards of the Review of Economic Studies, the Economic Journal, and the Journal of Economic History. Noam's research focuses on four key areas. First, the importance of educational content and the structure of educational institutions in the production of human capital. Second, the political economy of legal institutions: particularly how they affect labour market outcomes and development, and how they are affected by the political institutions in which they are embedded. Third, the study of social interactions that shape economic and political behaviour. Fourth, the drivers of political ideology and participation in political movements. Finally, the role of the state in promoting economic growth and innovation.

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Free.

Livestreamed online https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99264368418

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