Alex Imas

🏷️ @aleximas.bsky.social

Who Uses AI (and How)? Tracking the evidence on AI adoption

Who Uses AI (and How)? Brilliant overview from @aleximas.bsky.social & @soumitrashukla.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Economist Alex Imas has been tracking the evidence on AI and productivity changes, and now thinks that the macro-economic data is, rather suddenly, showing the increase in productivity that we have been seeing in our micro research. aleximas.substack.com/p/what-is-th...

“Asking ‘will AI replace the artist’ is the same as asking ‘will the camera replace the artist’”, argues @aleximas.bsky.social in the latest instalment of his excellent series of essays on the societal impact of AI.

And the answer is No—quite the contrary:

buff.ly/4pJiZ71

Someday we will all be artists How AI will change the nature of work and art

New post: "Someday We Will All Be Artists"

How will AI impact art? Will artists be replaced? No. Art will change, but art makers will be most "automation proof" jobs out there. In fact, many jobs will take on characteristics that we associate with artists.

aleximas.substack.com/p/someday-we...

Some (late) predictions for 2026 Outlining how I plan to spend my year.

I wrote up some (late) predictions for 2026, mostly as a way to guide my own thinking and priorities.

Overall: 2026 is the year we will finally see real visible societal changes in response to AI. Discuss 3 reasons: agents, recursive science, continual learning.

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Thank you Marciano!

Yes that’s a great example.

Thank you Tim!

Ghosts of Electricity | Alex Imas | Substack Essays on the economics of AI and technological change. Click to read Ghosts of Electricity, by Alex Imas, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Importantly, this is a living post. I will update it continuously as new data comes in. If you see something I'm missing, please let me know and I will add it.

For regular updates, please consider subscribing to the substack. Here is the link: aleximas.substack.com

There is also a disconnect on who benefits most: micro (mostly) finds low-skill/less-experienced workers see higher returns, the (limited) macro evidence is more mixed but leans toward higher wage/higher ed people seeing more of the benefits. 2/n

What is the impact of AI on productivity? Reconciling the micro and the macro evidence

New post: What is the impact of AI on productivity?

I review all of the studies and data that I can find and try to provide a synthesis.

A disagreement emerges: micro studies find positive benefits but these benefits are yet to show up in the macro data.

aleximas.substack.com/p/what-is-th... 🧵

Does this reflect "discrimination"? We can't test this directly. But we think it's likely that there is systemic discrimination by socioeconomic background in academia

(Following the very useful framework by Bohren, @instrumenthull.bsky.social @aleximas.bsky.social

(20/22)

GPT-5.2 Pro is good enough to check reproducibility & robustness of academic papers across many fields (given the data, can you get the same results? are the statistics brittle?). I wouldn't trust it to automate decisions, but to flag them.

It can't do an independent replication with new data, yet.

Thanks Hernan!

The Tragedy of the Agentic Commons Eliciting preferences using AI improves matches, but everyone getting their own agent will still necessitate markets

5. Can AI agents help in matching markets? Yes, but require markets and prices. Otherwise there’s a tragedy of the commons.

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Why Can’t Your AI Agent Book a Flight? The need for a parallel internet and legal clarity for agentic interactions

4. Why can’t your AI agents book your flight? The need for a parallel internet and legal clarity for agentic interactions.

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Can advanced AI lead to negative economic growth? Considering the role of demand in the economics of AI

3. Can advanced AI lead to negative growth? Considering the role of demand in the economics of AI.

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Can a Transformer “Learn” Economic Relationships? Revisiting the Lucas Critique in the age of Transformers.

2. Can a Transformer “Learn” Economic Relationships?
Revisiting the Lucas Critique in the age of Transformers.

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Will money still exist in the agentic economy? Yes

1. Will money exist in the agentic economy?

Yes.

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Ghosts of Electricity | Alex Imas | Substack Essays on the economics of AI and technological change. Click to read Ghosts of Electricity, by Alex Imas, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Some news: I’ve started a Substack, largely focused on AI, tech, and economics more broadly.

I've always loved the essay format. It helps me explore ideas more formally w/o the 5 year publishing gauntlet.

Consider subscribing:

open.substack.com/pub/aleximas...

Links to all posts below:

Thaler & Imas (@aleximas.bsky.social ; @rthaler.bsky.social): The Winner's Curse

I've read a lot of JDM (pic 2 related) and figured this would be a nice review of behavioral econ. It was that, but also such a great presentation w/ plenty I'd never seen- and I'm a sucker for anyone who praises Simon

Can advanced AI lead to negative economic growth? Considering the role of demand in the economics of AI

have only read the first 1/4, but this by @aleximas.bsky.social looks very interesting on the range of conditions under which unemployment due to automation would lead to demand collapse

Thoughtful thread by @aleximas.bsky.social on the potential of AI-driven automation for disrupting the labour market, and how to anticipate it:

buff.ly/PWYhkap

Social Dynamics of AI Adoption Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

I think spot on and applies elsewhere; in volume-driven/time-constrained areas the competitive advantage of AI can make it an strategic necessity even if the new equilibrium is worse for everybody.1/

by Leonardo Bursztyn, @aleximas.bsky.social @rafaeljjd.bsky.social Aaron Leonard & Christopher Roth

YouTube video by Behavior Change For Good Initiative The Anomalies That Changed Economics | Richard Thaler and Alex Imas

I'm excited to share access to a video of the conversation @angeladuckworth.bsky.social & I hosted at Wharton w/ our brilliant friends @rthaler.bsky.social & @aleximas.bsky.social about their new book THE WINNER'S CURSE & how behavioral econ has evolved in the last 30 years. youtu.be/hH8UgQb-x4A?...

it was so much fun to host @rthaler.bsky.social and @aleximas.bsky.social @upenn.edu for a conversation about The Winner’s Curse and the evolution of behavioral economics.

missed it? check out the recording on the @bcfginitiative.bsky.social youtube channel!

youtu.be/hH8UgQb-x4A

Behavioral Economics, Then and Now: A Conversation With @aleximas.bsky.social — behavioralscientist.org/behavioral-e...

Behavioral Economics, Then and Now: A Conversation With Alex Imas - by Heather Graci - Behavioral Scientist Alex Imas and Richard Thaler teamed up to update a landmark book in behavioral economics. In doing so, they chart where behavioral economics began, where it is now, and where it could go next.

.@rthaler.bsky.social and @aleximas.bsky.social teamed up to update The Winner's Curse, a landmark book in behavioral economics. In doing so, they chart where behavioral economics began, where it is now, and where it could go next.
behavioralscientist.org/behavioral-e...

Happy pub day to THE WINNER'S CURSE by @rthaler.bsky.social + @aleximas.bsky.social!
The original (1992) version of this book changed my life -- it's the reason I study judgment and decision making. For a preview of the new edition, check out my Q&A w/ the authors t.co/n3ThOxpJak