A key learning objective is to equip students with the ability to critically assess and condense the underlying literature and to present the results coherently using the terminology and the toolkit of economics.

Teaching method(s): The course will take place in seminar format, i.e., with presentations by the participants and discussions (moderated by the lecturer) of the selected literature. Details will be provided at the kick-off meeting.In view of the seminar format, which includes intensive discussions, a maximum of eight participants will be accepted.

Artificial intelligence (or variations of catch-phrases like Generative AI, Large Language Models, …), which are roughly speaking computer systems/solutions that can perform tasks that have traditionally required human intelligence, has the potential to change the economic system in many ways. These changes may have profound impacts on the functioning of markets, including the labor market, the income distribution as well as economic growth at the national or even global level. As of today, it is still unclear in many ways how and to which extent the potential implications will materialize. The economics literature is highly active in addressing the open question – and we will study in this seminar some current economic research on how AI may impact different parts of the (global) economy. Detailed references will be added in due time.

Prior knowledge: Basic knowledge of – but more importantly – interest in economic topics in the widest sense and willingness to accept challenges and work hard to try to master them; willingness to look into economic models and methods, both theoretical and empirical. Since the current economics literature is often quite technical, one has to be willing to accept that some of the material will be hard or even impossible to digest.Prerequisites: Completion of the Micro- and Macroeconomics courses is most highly recommended.

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Literature: Suggestions will be provided at the kick-off meeting. Strong and well-motivated preferencesby the participants for specific topics can and will be handled flexibly.

Exam method(s): Presentation and active participation in the discussions.The dates for the presentations will be agreed upon in the course of the semester.

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Presentation (70%) and active participation in the discussions (30%). The presentation documents („slides“, „Powerpoint“) will be included in the assessment.