A viral research note on AI gets its economics wrong

AS STOCKS wobbled in the last week of February, some found a cause in a note by Citrini Research, a firm of equity analysts. It imagined a world in 2028 in which artificial intelligence had rendered a lot of white-collar work obsolete—along with firms from American Express to DoorDash and much of the software industry. The note went viral. But its economics are shaky.