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From Augmentation to Reconstruction: Guiding the AI Disruption to the Good Place

Author

Listed:
  • David M. Rothschild
  • Jake M. Hofman
  • Markus Mobius
  • Brendan Lucier
  • Eleanor Dillon
  • Daniel G. Goldstein
  • Nicole Immorlica
  • Aleksandrs Slivkins

Abstract

Artificial intelligence feels omnipresent, yet the disruption many expect has not fully arrived. The main reason is not model capability, nor even the tools built to harness those models. Rather, most organizations are still using AI to accelerate workflows designed for a pre-AI world. We offer a three-stage lens: Augmentation, Automation, and Reconstruction, and argue that the most consequential disruption resides in the third stage where workflows and markets are rebuilt around delegation, machine-to-machine interaction, continuous monitoring, and auditable constraints. Achieving this system-level transformation takes time: it requires trust and accountability infrastructure, machine-legible and interoperable data and interfaces, the design and adoption of these new workflows, and economic incentives that favor reconstruction rather than local optimization: the complementary investments that produce the familiar "productivity J-curve" of general-purpose technologies. We illustrate this transition through examples in consumer markets, education, news, and coding. Finally, we emphasize a normative point: the agentic future is not predetermined. Leaders must both skate to where the puck is going and actively steer it toward a good place, ensuring innovation delivers welfare gains felt by businesses and consumers around the world.

Suggested Citation

  • David M. Rothschild & Jake M. Hofman & Markus Mobius & Brendan Lucier & Eleanor Dillon & Daniel G. Goldstein & Nicole Immorlica & Aleksandrs Slivkins, 2026. "From Augmentation to Reconstruction: Guiding the AI Disruption to the Good Place," Papers 2605.29207, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2605.29207
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erik Brynjolfsson & Daniel Rock & Chad Syverson, 2021. "The Productivity J-Curve: How Intangibles Complement General Purpose Technologies," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 333-372, January.
    2. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2000. "Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 23-48, Fall.
    3. Eleanor W. Dillon & Sonia Jaffe & Nicole Immorlica & Christopher T. Stanton, 2025. "Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI," NBER Working Papers 33795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Mert Demirer & John J. Horton & Nicole Immorlica & Brendan Lucier & Peyman Shahidi, 2026. "Chaining Tasks, Redefining Work: A Theory of AI Automation," NBER Working Papers 34859, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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