Erik Brynjolfsson

Director, Stanford Digital Economy Lab; Professor & Senior Fellow, Stanford HAI, Stanford University

Search every verified Erik Brynjolfsson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and professor at Stanford HAI, appeared on a podcast in July 2026 to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market. He discussed a statement he helped organize that urges economists and AI researchers to "act now" to steer AI development in a direction that complements human workers. Brynjolfsson noted a "sea change" in attitudes toward AI's significance, recalling that as recently as a year or two ago, many economists did not view AI as a major factor. Brynjolfsson also discussed data from the Stanford Canaries dashboard, which showed early-career jobs shrinking 2.7% year-over-year while mid-career jobs grew 1.6%. He said he believes the numbers are credible and that the pattern has persisted since August 2025, though he declined to speak for the economics profession as a whole. He referenced his prior work on the "productivity J curve," comparing the current AI transition to the slow adoption of electricity in factories, which took 20 to 30 years to fundamentally change work. He also acknowledged that AI will cause significant disruption and job destruction while creating new jobs, describing the transformation as being in its early stages.