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How Did a $200 Million Data Migration Drop to $20 Million? · Big Technology Podcast

Big Technology Podcast

This AI Expert Argues We're Underestimating AI's Productivity Impact — With Ethan Mollick

Ethan Mollick is a professor at the Wharton School and author of Coexistence: The Next Phase of AI. Mollick joins Big Technology to discuss why AI's remarkable advances haven't yet translated into massive productivity gains across the economy. Tune in to hear why companies need to fundamentally rethink how they operate to unlock AI's full potential, where…

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Notes

  1. Why Don't Companies See AI Productivity Gains Yet? at 3:24

    Ethan Mollick says you do not get organizational productivity gains instantly from individual ones. Full answer

  2. Are Large Companies Seeing a Return From AI? at 11:16

    Ethan Mollick says surveys show 85 percent of companies had positive ROI from AI as of last year. Full answer

  3. How Did a $200 Million Data Migration Drop to $20 Million? at 15:11

    Ethan Mollick says no single move unlocks the full potential of AI inside a company. The work is structural change, and for many organizations it takes years. Full answer

  4. How Much of America's 20th-century Edge Came From Management? at 16:46

    Ethan Mollick says 40 percent of the advantage of American companies in the 20th century came from better management, according to a paper by Raffaella Sadun… Full answer

  5. What Is the AI Capability Overhang? at 24:35

    Ethan Mollick calls the overhang a huge gap between current AI capabilities and future capabilities. Full answer

  6. When Did Practical AI Agents Become Possible? at 26:17

    Ethan Mollick says practical agents were not possible until models reached Opus 4.6 level or 4.5 level around November and December of last year. Full answer

  7. Why Do Superforecasters Keep Getting AI Wrong? at 34:23

    Ethan Mollick says superforecasters keep getting AI wrong because an exponential is hard to predict. The labs have been right. Full answer

  8. Do AI Tutors Actually Help Students Learn? at 55:20

    Ethan Mollick says a universal tutor of high quality now exists in AI, and when the tool is set up as a tutor the evidence seems to show positive effects in a… Full answer

  9. Will AI Replace All Human Labor by 2035? at 1:01:10

    Ethan Mollick says nobody really knows what happens to jobs. Full answer

  10. Why Are AI Token Prices Falling? at 1:02:23

    Ethan Mollick says AI token prices face real downward pressure because a huge move for token efficiency is underway and costs will decrease even as more… Full answer

  11. Will Personal AI Agents Flood Customer Service? at 1:03:46

    Ethan Mollick says a perfectly legal distributed denial of service on customer service departments is coming, authorized by millions of consumers, once it is… Full answer

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