If an obscure 1980s paradox is any guide, AI may be about to hit a huge tipping point

There’s an old joke among economists that goes like this: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” I didn’t say it was a funny joke. But when labor economist Robert Solow originally wrote those words in 1987 , they were certainly true. Personal computers, corporate mainframes, and the first vestiges of the modern internet were all anyone could talk about.