Can AI Make Us Richer? A conversation on productivity, labor and the limits of regulation

In this episode of Unconventional Knowledge, Prince Michael of Liechtenstein speaks with Adam Michel, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, about artificial intelligence, productivity and the future of work.The discussion looks at AI through the broader history of technological change, arguing that new technologies have usually made workers more productive rather than simply replacing them. It examines how AI could reshape sectors such as software, law, writing and administration, and why workers and companies that learn to use it will gain an advantage.The episode also explores the risks of AI enabling more bureaucracy and government control, especially in heavily regulated economies. Michel argues that societies will need clear limits on state power and more room for “permissionless innovation.”The conversation closes with a warning against seeing AI as a solution to public debt, growth can help, but governments still need to control spending.A focused look at whether AI will drive prosperity, or reinforce the bureaucratic systems already holding economies back.