Steve Jobs Was Right: Computers Really Are Bicycles for the Mind—Especially in the Age of AI

Steve Jobs Was Right: Computers Really Are Bicycles for the Mind—Especially in the Age of AI

Steve Jobs once likened computers to “bicycles for the mind,” tools that amplify human mental capabilities. A new NBER working paper by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb, “The Economics of Bicycles for the Mind,” redeploys the Apple cofounder’s famous metaphor to make a compelling argument about artificial intelligence. Their clever framework shows that AI’s effects are less about simply replacing humans and more about enhancing our ab…