Part 4/7:
The conversation quickly shifts to the varying complexities of tasks that AI can tackle. Acemoglu emphasizes a crucial distinction between "easy to learn" and "hard to learn" tasks, noting that while AI excels in areas with clear ground truths—like protein folding or answering set questions—many occupations require complex tacit knowledge and nuanced human judgment. Tasks that demand social interaction or high levels of decision-making, such as those performed by CEOs, educators, and healthcare professionals, remain largely beyond AI's current capabilities.
This distinction underlines the importance of understanding where AI can be most effectively applied, suggesting that many executives may misallocate resources by aiming to automate tasks that technology is not yet equipped to handle.