Three New AI-Related Working/Policy Papers From OECD; Topics Include Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Trust
The three papers shared below were published by OECD in the past five days.
OECD Working Paper: The Effects of Generative AI on Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Abstract
This document reviews experimental research on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on productivity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. It highlights to what extent AI automates tasks, enhances skills, and transforms business operations. Additionally, this study discusses the role of AI in fostering creativity, accelerating research and development and lowering entry barriers for businesses, while also noting challenges related to trust and human expertise. Findings suggest that AI’s effectiveness depends on the user’s experience and the task carried out, with human-AI collaboration being key to maximising its potential. The review identifies gaps in current research, particularly regarding AI’s long-term business effects and workers’ understanding of its limitations, emphasising the need for further studies to guide its responsible and effective use.
OECD Policy Paper: Trustworthy AI Models with Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
Abstract
Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) are critical tools for building trust in the collaborative development and sharing of artificial intelligence (AI) models while protecting privacy, intellectual property, and sensitive information. This report identifies two key types of PET use cases. The first is enhancing the performance of AI models through confidential and minimal use of input data, with technologies like trusted execution environments, federated learning, and secure multi-party computation. The second is enabling the confidential co-creation and sharing of AI models using tools such as differential privacy, trusted execution environments, and homomorphic encryption. PETs can reduce the need for additional data collection, facilitate data-sharing partnerships, and help address risks in AI governance. However, they are not silver bullets. While combining different PETs can help compensate for their individual limitations, balancing utility, efficiency, and usability remains challenging. Governments and regulators can encourage PET adoption through policies, including guidance, regulatory sandboxes, and R&D support, which would help build sustainable PET markets and promote trustworthy AI innovation.
OECD Working Paper: Developments in Artificial Intelligence Markets: New Indicators Based on Model Characteristics, Prices and Providers
Abstract
Given AI’s potential to generate productivity and welfare gains, the paper provides new empirical evidence about AI markets to assess whether potential AI users benefit from favourable market developments regarding prices, quality and variety. It leverages an extensive data collection covering Generative AI model characteristics, including their performance and price, developers, cloud providers, and downstream AI-powered applications globally over the past two years. It finds several trends that are indicative of dynamism for the time being – including declining quality-adjusted prices and a growing number of market players and model offerings – but several risks remain, related to bottlenecks in the key inputs to AI, notably data, computing power and skills.
Filed under: Data Files, Journal Articles, News, Patrons and Users, Productivity
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.


