The American worker is on a productivity tear and it may have more to do with a surge in working from home than the effects of AI, according to a Stanford economist.

For the past five years, the output for non-farm businesses has increased by a sizable 2% per year, The Economist reported citing statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a marked increase from the 1% productivity growth per year that defined most of the 2010s, and a trend that has taken even Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell by surprise.

Yet, while the hype around AI over the past several years makes it a logical candidate for the main driver behind the productivity boom, Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economics professor who is known for explaining the Great Resignation of the early 2020s, says it’s more likely work-from-home policies since the pandemic are fueling the trend.

  • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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    12 hours ago

    But how will your owners exercise arbitrary control and surveillance of you? I’m sorry but you just can’t be productive like thay

    • scytale@piefed.zip
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      12 hours ago

      The wost part is they already have control and surveillance with all the endpoint management software installed on company devices.