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answer: direct
beat: ai-society
source: 1 article · updated: July 3, 2026
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Why would concentrated wealth be inefficient to an optimizing AI?

Because of diminishing marginal utility: a dollar given to someone below the poverty line produces measurably more well-being, spending, and opportunity than the same dollar sitting in a billionaire's investment portfolio. An AI modeling aggregate welfare would treat extreme hoarding as wasted economic potential, not success.

Answered in

If AI Ran the Economy, Would You Still Be Poor?

An AI optimizing for well-being would target billionaires as a bottleneck — but Scandinavia already proves you don't need one to fix poverty.

Crashtech Editorial July 3, 2026 AI & Society

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