Welcome to the (digital) jungle: Measuring online platform diffusion

Abstract

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The impact of Artificial Intelligence on productivity, distribution and growth

“…These are sometimes also called "elements of the AI value chain" (CMA, 2023 [9]). These inputs are all strongly complementary to each other, so much so that AI systems can also be seen as a bundle of these assets (Corrado, Haskel and Jona-Lasinio, 2021 [11]). Among intangible inputs, skills are critical and include highly trained IT engineers, programmers and data scientists.…”

“…). 11 At the same time, AI has a few key features that differentiate it from previous General-Purpose Technologies (GPTs) (Table 1) (Agrawal, Gans and Goldfarb, 2023[22]).…”

“…A slow adoption pace and gradual learning of how best to adapt production processes to make most of the new technology is typical of General Purpose Technologies. They usually require significant complementary investments, often concentrated in intangibles that take time to build and can be difficult to finance (Corrado, Haskel and Jona-Lasinio, 2021 [11]). Put differently, "plug and play" applications of transformative technologies are rare: for the technology to deliver important gains, businesses need to implement substantial adjustments in the way they manage staff, organize production, collect and use information and interact with customers and suppliers.…”

Competition, regulation and growth in a digitized world

“…At the same time, concerns are also rising that, absent appropriate regulatory and competition policies, the potential benefits of digital transformation could be overshadowed by undesirable side effects. Increasing concentration in digital marketssee definition provided below -and the resulting decline in competitive pressures, rising performance gaps between firms, cybersecurity risks 2 and threats to the privacy of individuals could be affecting consumer welfare and growth, and may in the longer term outweigh the benefits of digitalisation. Indeed, by their very nature, if left unchecked, digital technologies might tend to exacerbate some of the tendencies that have weighed on aggregate productivity growth and inequality developments over the past two decades.…”

“…The longer-term effects of the pandemic on digital transformation are only beginning to emerge (see (OECD, 2020 [195])). 2 Cyberthreats are an important issue, but they will not be discussed in this paper as the focus here is on competition issues.…”