Gist of Ethan Mollick's Blog - Mass Intelligence
- Mass adoption of powerful AI: A billion people now use advanced AI regularly, thanks to accessible and affordable models like GPT-5 and Gemini, with platforms like ChatGPT reaching hundreds of millions of weekly users.
- Barriers to access are falling: Confusion over model selection and high costs once limited access to the best AI, but interfaces and economics have shifted, making advanced capabilities available to free users for the first time.
- Cheaper and more efficient models: Powerful AI is dramatically more cost-effective and energy-efficient, enabling widespread, low-cost use; for example, GPT-5 Nano costs only 14 cents per million tokens, and prompt energy use is minuscule.
- Ease of use—and democratization: AI models (including image generators like "nano banana"/Gemini 2.5 Flash) now follow plain-language instructions, making sophisticated tasks simple for non-experts.
- Unpredictable societal impact: Mass access leads to diverse uses—from emotional support, healthcare, and education to misuse, creativity, and new ventures—bringing opportunities and risks.
- Institutions must adapt: Traditional systems (schools, courts, companies) face challenge and disruption as intelligence becomes abundant, raising questions about trust, expertise, and verification.
- An era of Mass Intelligence begins: As AI outperforms humans in many tasks and becomes ubiquitous, society must navigate both new possibilities and emerging complexities.
Thank You - Ethan Mollick