Ethan Mollick

About:

Prof. Ethan Mollick is the author of the website One Useful Thing. He is trying to understand the implications of AI for work, education, and life. The website is a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

Website:

www.oneusefulthing.org

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2026-03-12 • technology innovation automation future of work ai

Ethan Mollick examines the transformative impact of AI advancements on work and organizations, emphasizing the shift towards managing AI agents and the implications for the future.

2026-02-18 • productivity ai models ai agents technological change

AI usage has evolved from simple chatbots to sophisticated agentic systems capable of performing complex tasks, necessitating a deeper understanding of models, apps, and harnesses.

2026-01-07 • programming automation software development ai and it tools claude code

Claude Code exemplifies a new generation of AI tools that autonomously develop software, showcasing significant advancements in AI capabilities and their implications for programming and knowledge work.

2025-12-20 • technology automation bottlenecks jagged frontier ai

The 'Jagged Frontier' concept illustrates AI's uneven capabilities, creating bottlenecks that prevent full automation and highlighting the need for human collaboration in various tasks.

2025-11-18 • programming technology google gemini research ai

The author reflects on the advancements in AI technology over the past three years, particularly focusing on Google's new Gemini 3 model. They compare it to earlier models like ChatGPT and highlight Gemini 3's capabilities in codi...

2025-09-29 • productivity openai automation research ai

The article discusses the recent advancements in AI capabilities, particularly in performing economically relevant tasks. OpenAI's new test revealed that AI can now compete with human experts in various fields, although humans sti...

2025-08-28 • chatgpt technology chatbot ai mass intelligence

The blog post discusses the rapid evolution of AI chatbots, particularly focusing on the transition to an era of 'Mass Intelligence' where powerful AI tools are becoming widely accessible. It highlights the significant increase in...

2025-07-28 • organizational psychology reinforcement learning ai applications and solutions

Ethan Mollick discusses the insights from Ruthanne Huising's research on organizational processes, highlighting the chaotic nature of organizations as illustrated by the Garbage Can Model. He explains how AI adoption is complicate...

2025-09-11 • technology intelligence gpt-5 ai ethan mollick

Ethan Mollick discusses the evolving relationship between humans and AI, transitioning from collaboration to a more passive role where users act as an audience to AI outputs. He illustrates this shift through personal experiences ...

2025-10-19 • chatgpt google gemini ai models claude ai grok ai and it tools secondary research

The guide discusses the current landscape of AI usage, highlighting that 10% of humanity uses AI weekly, primarily through free tools. It provides insights based on OpenAI's usage data, suggesting when to use free versus advanced ...

2025-08-07 • chatgpt technology automation ai

The author shares insights from early access to GPT-5, highlighting its capabilities and improvements over previous models. GPT-5 automates model selection and enhances user experience by suggesting tasks and generating high-quali...

2025-11-12 • performance machine learning performance benchmarks evaluation ai

The article discusses the challenges of measuring AI intelligence through benchmarks, which often have flaws and can be manipulated. It highlights the importance of understanding the underlying abilities of AI models and suggests ...

2026-01-27 • management startup entrepreneurship education ai

MBA students at the University of Pennsylvania rapidly created startup prototypes using AI tools, highlighting the importance of management skills in effectively delegating tasks to AI.

2025-07-07 • creativity learning education cognitive science ai

The post discusses the common fear that AI might damage our cognitive abilities, particularly in learning and creativity. It references a study from MIT that showed students using ChatGPT were less engaged and retained less inform...

2025-06-23 • technology machine learning deep learning ai

The text is a guide on which AI system to use, focusing on three main systems: Claude from Anthropic, Google’s Gemini, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It also provides advice on how to use these systems effectively, including tips on prompt...

2025-06-01 • multimodal models image generation video generation open weights models diffusion models spatial reasoning ai

The author discusses the history of AI image generation using otters as a benchmark, highlighting the growth of multiple types of AI tools, rapid improvement, and the status of local and open models. The article also explores the ...

2025-05-22 • innovation leadership workplace productivity and wellbeing operational transformation ai

The text discusses the current state of AI adoption in companies, highlighting that AI boosts work performance and a large percentage of people are using AI at work. It also emphasizes that there are more transformational gains av...

2025-05-01 • ethics persuasion human-centric computing ai

The article discusses the impact of AI models like GPT-4o becoming more sycophantic and the implications of AI personalities on human behavior. It explores the economic value of AI personalities and their persuasive power, as well...

2025-04-20 • openai agi google o1 secondary research tyler cowen jagged frontier ai

The text discusses the challenges in measuring the intelligence of AI systems and the recent release of new AI models, Gemini 2.5 Pro and o3 from OpenAI. It also explores the concept of Jagged AGI, which refers to AI's uneven abil...

2025-03-30 • technology visual content

Google and OpenAI have introduced multimodal image generation abilities, allowing AI to directly control image creation. This has implications for various industries and raises questions about creative ownership and authenticity. ...

2025-03-22 • productivity workplace productivity and wellbeing business expertise

The text discusses the impact of AI on teamwork and expertise, based on a study conducted at Procter and Gamble. The study found that AI can replicate the performance benefits of human teammates, improve solution quality, and redu...

2025-03-11 • programming proof of work research vibe coding

The text discusses the concept of 'vibecoding' where the author uses AI to create a 3D game and an interactive course. It also explores the use of AI in research and the changing nature of work due to AI capabilities.

2025-02-24 • technology machine learning

The text discusses the new generation of AI models, Claude 3.7 and Grok 3, highlighting their advanced capabilities and the implications for the future of AI. It explains the significant improvements in performance, reasoning abil...

2025-02-03 • openai google reasoning fundamental research general purpose agents

The text discusses the convergence of AI autonomous agents and powerful Reasoners, leading to AI systems capable of conducting research with the depth and nuance of human experts at machine speed. It explains the breakthrough of R...