As I share today’s column (gift link), I confess trepidation. After all, how much more does the average person want to hear about artificial intelligence?
Here’s the thing, I already know the answer. I’ve seen statistical evidence. Most people don’t want to know about AI, talk about AI or click on AI-related articles. (Indeed, a specific problem in this instance).
And yet, many people are rampantly sharing AI-generated material on social media, reading AI-generated content on websites and turning their selfies into AI-generated artwork. If we are honest, the use of AI has become common in schools and offices. Instead, I suspect most of us would just rather not know what that means.
AI is changing the economy whether we like it or not.
First, the explosion of data centers is boosting the tech and construction sectors. That boom will eventually end, leaving us with the enormous energy costs. More on that in an upcoming column.
Second, there’s good evidence that a slowdown in hiring is partially related to AI, and that companies are preparing to potentially reduce the workforce because of AI efficiencies. When that happens, we face vast societal realignment unseen since the end of the 19th century agrarian era.
Back then, masses of people came in from the countryside from small farms and built up the modern cities through labor, creating the ancestor of today’s economy.
But if there are no jobs in the city, where do people go next? What if there’s nowhere to go?
The drumbeat of productivity gain has been in sync with human development for 150 years. But we now reach a crossroads. The advancement of humanity and the rise of productivity are no longer the same thing. Some might argue they never were, and that is the problem historians might discuss someday.
You know, if there are any.
Read “By all measures, productivity is sky-high. So why do we feel so left out?” in the Monday, March 23, 2026 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
