AI, Tractors, and the Productivity Paradox

AI, tractors, and the productivity paradoxWhere are AI's productivity gains hiding? What kitted out Model Ts can teach us.SachinApr 30, 2026171ShareThe question everyone seems to be asking these days with respect to AI is: if it’s so impactful as claimed, why is it not showing up in any economic stats?It is not the first time that such a paradox has shown up in the deployment of a new technology. In 1987, Robert Solow remarked that you can see the computer age everywhere except in the productivity statistics. Erik Brynjolfsson later coined the term “productivity paradox” in 1993 to describe this very phenomenon. The massive investment in information technology through the 1970s and 1980s produced no measurable uptick in productivity growth.

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