Finance & economics | Free exchange Economists are in raptures, but they should be careful
Illustration: Álvaro Bernis Feb 13th 2025
In early February Openai, the world’s most famous artificial-intelligence firm, released Deep Research, which is “designed to perform in-depth, multi-step research”. With a few strokes of a keyboard, the tool can produce a paper on any topic in minutes. Many academics love it. “Asking OpenAI’s Deep Research about topics I am writing papers on has been incredibly fruitful,” said Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania. Some economists go further. “I am *sure* for B-level journals, you can publish papers you ‘wrote’ in a day”, said Kevin Bryan of the University of Toronto. “I think of the quality as comparable to having a good PhD-level research assistant, and sending that person away with a task for a week or two,” said Tyler Cowen of George Mason University, an economist with cult-like status in Silicon Valley. Already have an account? Log in
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Artificial intelligence Economics Finance & economics Free exchange OpenAI Reuse this content The Economist today Handpicked stories, in your inbox A daily newsletter with the best of our journalismYes, I agree to receive exclusive content, offers and updates to products and services from The Economist Group. I can change these preferences at any time. More from Finance & economics Solar panels installed on the roof of a building at Skardu in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral Pakistan and South Africa provide a warning for other countries Russian inflation is too high. Does that matter? In a strong economy, price pressure can endure for a long time Why you should repay your mortgage early For the first time in decades, the arithmetic suggests settling housing loans How AI will divide the best from the rest Optimists hope the technology will be a great equaliser. Instead, it looks likely […]
Fallbrook couple had their children help them harvest magic mushrooms: DA
A baggie containing so-called magic mushrooms The U.S. Attorney’s Office,
