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Import AI Editor Tells IMF Audience the Singularity Has Begun

#singularity#ai-economics#imf#jack-clark

Jack Clark, editor of the Import AI newsletter, delivered the Per Jacobsson lecture at the IMF meeting in Bangkok on October 17, 2026, arguing that AI's autonomous operation at the frontier of science signals the early stages of the singularity. He urged economists, bankers, and policymakers to expect significant, rapid change and focused on how humanity can share in AI's benefits with foresight and restraint.

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  1. Import AI (Jack Clark)Jack Clark
    Import AI 477: In which I tell the IMF the Singularity has begun

    Welcome to Import AI, a newsletter about AI research. Import AI runs on arXiv, cappuccinos, and feedback from readers. If you’d like to support this, please subscribe. Subscribe now Here’s a speech I gave on Saturday the 17th of October at the IMF meeting in Bangkok. This speech is inspired by the megatrend readers have seen me cover this year of AI beginning to operate at the frontier of human science, sometimes autonomously. While we all may quibble over the details, I think it’s evident we’re in the early stages of the singularity, and I wanted to use my privileged position of giving the Per Jacobsson lecture to try and tell the assembled audience of economists, bankers, and policymakers, that they should expect significant, rapid change in the future. In this speech, I focused primarily on how humanity can share in the benefits of AI if we exercise proper foresight and restraint, and I’m going to be expanding on the stakes of the singularity and the risks that we’ll all face in com

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