The Digitalist Papers series presents an array of possible futures that the AI revolution might produce.
A roadmap of possibilities for the future of AI from some of the brightest minds in academia, industry, and civil society.
Just as the Federalist Papers of the 18th century analyzed the great challenges of the day and provided a roadmap of institutional innovation for the young nation, today, we need a similar ambition of imagination.
The Digitalist Papers aims to bridge domains and disciplines by assembling experts from multiple fields—including economics, law, technology, management, and political science—alongside industry, and civil society leaders.
Technology is not destiny; the choices we make now will determine how these tools shape the world ahead.
In the first volume of The Digitalist Papers series, contributors were invited to apply their disciplinary tools and domain expertise to address two key questions:
First, how has AI changed the world, and what are the implications for democratic institutions, governance, and leadership
Second, what is your vision for the future, and how do you plan to achieve it?
Volume 1 was curated by renowned scholars and leaders Erik Brynjolfsson, Alex "Sandy" Pentland, Nathaniel Persily, and Condoleezza Rice, and features contributions from thought leaders who bring their unique disciplinary expertise.
The second volume of The Digitalist Papers explores the economics of transformative AI—advanced systems that could drive changes as significant as the Industrial Revolution, but far more quickly.
While technical progress is accelerating, and investments in the technology are surging, far less attention has been devoted to understanding the implications of what is being built for how we live and work together in society. This volume brings together leading economists, technologists, and policy thinkers to take that challenge seriously.
Volume 2 is led by Ajay Agrawal, Erik Brynjolfsson, Anton Korinek, and Alex “Sandy” Pentland with senior editor Daniel Susskind. Its authors bring deep expertise and a shared commitment to translating insight into action.
Meet the contributors
Each author in The Digitalist Papers offers a unique perspective and collectively expresses a vision in which our institutions and society can thrive in a world of powerful digital technologies like artificial intelligence.
Institutional partners
The Stanford Digital Economy Lab brings together an interdisciplinary group of passionate researchers to study how digital technologies are transforming work, organizations, and the economy.
Support the Stanford Digital Economy Lab’s mission
Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
The mission of HAI is to advance AI research, education, policy and practice to improve the human condition. Led by faculty from multiple departments across Stanford, research focuses on developing AI technologies inspired by human intelligence; studying, forecasting and guiding the human and societal impact of AI; and designing and creating AI applications that augment human capabilities.
The Stanford Cyber Policy Center brings together researchers across the Stanford campus to solve the biggest issues in cybersecurity, governance, and the future of work.
With its eminent scholars and world-renowned Library and Archives, the Hoover Institution is a public policy think tank that seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity, while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind.
Project Liberty is stitching together an ecosystem of technologists, academics, policymakers and citizens committed to building a better internet—where the data is ours to manage, the platforms are ours to govern, and the power is ours to reclaim.
Acknowledgments for Volume 2
In this volume, a distinguished group of authors explore how transformative artificial intelligence is reshaping the economy and society. Together, their essays offer forward-looking perspectives on how AI can expand opportunity, enhance productivity, and deepen human capability, while also posing complex challenges that call for foresight, collaboration, and collective responsibility. Technology is not destiny; the choices we make now will determine how these tools shape the world ahead. Each contribution reflects deep expertise and a shared commitment to translating insight into action.
We are deeply grateful to the authors for taking on this challenge and for sharing their ideas. We hope their work will inspire continued conversation across research, policy, and practice about how to guide AI’s development toward broadly beneficial outcomes.
This volume would not have been possible without the encouragement and generous support of Project Liberty Institute and its founder, Frank McCourt, and the contributions and insights of the Institute staff led by Sheila Warren and Jeb Bell.
The project also benefited from the thoughtful input of a diverse group of reviewers and advisors who offered their time and expertise throughout the editorial process. They provided feedback that sharpened the ideas within these pages. We thank Bharat Chandar, Matt Beane, Huub Brouwer, Julian Gewirtz, Cameron Kerry, Seth Lazar, Julian Le Grand, Sam Manning, and Matthew Mitchell for their generous contributions, which reflect the value of collaboration across disciplines and perspectives in understanding and shaping the trajectory of transformative AI.
We are grateful to Stanford University for its continued support, which has sustained and strengthened this project. We especially thank the Stanford Office of Development for its partnership and engagement, with particular appreciation to Kathy Veit for her steadfast support and to Rob Reich for his early thought partnership in shaping this initiative.
We also extend our deep appreciation to the teams supporting our faculty leads, whose efforts were crucial in bringing this project to fruition. Megan Deason, Christie Ko, and Matty Smith from the Stanford Digital Economy Lab provided invaluable operational and communications support. Susan Young led the coordination of The Digitalist Papers across every stage of its development—from author engagement and editorial management to design, production, and launch. Her stewardship ensured that the many moving parts of this project came together seamlessly. We further thank the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence communications and events team, particularly Elsa Conde, for organizing events that helped surface, refine, and share the ideas developed here.
We are grateful to Eden Beck for her meticulous copyediting, which brought clarity, consistency, and cohesion across the essays, and to Alexander Atkins, whose creative design and production expertise gave The Digitalist Papers its distinctive and enduring form.
Finally, we extend our appreciation to those who contributed to the first volume of The Digitalist Papers, whose collaboration and creativity helped lay the groundwork for this continuing series.
Photo credits
AAD/Firefly, Library of Congress, 2025 AI Index Report