Economic Models for AI and People

Undergraduate

Long before ChatGPT, new technology has been upending our assumptions about what is valuable and costly, cool and cringe. In this course we explore the changes to society from technology, using some key economic models – from game theory, behavioral economics, price theory, and more. Students learn to build and manipulate models mathematically, but just as important, to apply them to understand and explain real-world phenomena. Readings are old and recent economic papers, textbook chapters, and writing for the general public (books / online essays). Students can either treat this class academically—to prepare for applied theory at the level of rigor needed for graduate school and research—or treat it practically, to prepare for posting interesting essays and building (or investing in) clever tech products. The final class project is the student’s choice of a paper or an interactive app demo with an accompanying write-up. To thrive in this course, you need a certain level of mathematical maturity and familiarity with economic theory concepts. We will work through mathematical proofs and use analytical reasoning. You should be conversant with Nash Equilibrium and constrained optimization with Lagrange multipliers (at least after a brief refresher). You must have taken MATH 1200 (Multi-variate calculus), ECON 2121 (Intermediate Microeconomics), and Game Theory (ECON 2159), or equivalent courses. If you believe you have the background for this course but it’s not reflected on your transcript, please contact me. If you are unsure whether the material will be suitable for you, please talk to me in advance, or early in the course. SO F 9:25am-11:20am