This post announces the top three winners from a 600+ submission essay contest on major AI challenges. Jassi Pannu outlines a state-scale plan to end airborne pathogens, Ege Erdil advises growth-focused policies for countries outside the AI supply chain, and Michael Li compares AI labs’ economics to Hong Kong’s MTR model. Each full essay follows the brief winner descriptions.

Anthropic warns AI may boost economic growth while displacing millions of workers and urges governments to strengthen unemployment benefits, wage support, retraining, and public services now. If AI eventually replaces broad human labor, it proposes new taxes, digital dividends, universal basic income, and other wealth-sharing measures to redistribute gains.

This article discusses the need for new industrial policies to manage the transition to superintelligent AI. It emphasizes the importance of democratic processes in shaping AI's future, ensuring broad access and mitigating risks. The authors argue for proactive measures to ensure that AI benefits everyone and addresses potential disruptions to jobs and society.