HACKER Q&A
📣 mrcwinn

Economists, what would happen if the Fed inserted AI stimulus agents?


Imagine an AI agent that is given real money (accessed via a debit card, electronically).

What would happen if that agent intelligently spent the money to stimulate the real economy (ie, acquire real things) in the least wasteful way possible? Or asked another way, is there ever a case where stimulus alone (without any other productivity) yields more economic benefit than the liability of the stimulus itself?

And another question: what if that same AI agent not only spent money, but was also productive as well (eg, filed a tax return for me - saving me time without costing me a job). If that helps the productivity equation and makes the stimulus worthwhile, could the Fed scale up these agents to stimulate the economy, and scale them back down if growth were too high?

(For the purposes of this exercise, set aside that the Fed's legal mandate is not about growth, but about unemployment. If you really feel like arguing, let's say it's a new Office of AI Stimulus.)


  👤 thoughtstheseus Accepted Answer ✓
You’re talking about improving the effectiveness of resource distribution. Read up on political economy. There are a few centuries of study on the topic. Unfortunately no one agrees on the answers so I’m not sure how an AI could make these decisions effectively.

👤 gsatic
The banks + corporate wonderland will create smarter crony AIs to make sure most of the stimulus goes to them.

👤 0zemp3c
The economy doesn't need stimulus right now and probably not for years to come