---
id: "quote-acemoglu-floor"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["¶4"]
tags: ["productivity", "economics"]
related: ["claim-acemoglu-underestimate"]
speaker: "Harang Ju"
speakers: ["Harang Ju"]
quote: "His model assumes AI automates tasks within existing structures. That 0.5% is the floor for doing nothing differently, not the ceiling for what’s possible."
sources: ["agentic"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-agentic"
originDay: 6
articleStem: "hbr-ext-17-workplace-set-up-for-agents"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/is-your-workplace-set-up-for-ai-agents"
sourceTitle: "Is Your Workplace Set Up for AI Agents?"
---
# Acemoglu's Estimate is a Floor

Critique of [[entity-daron-acemoglu|Daron Acemoglu]]'s ~0.5% productivity-gain estimate; see [[claim-acemoglu-underestimate]].

> His model assumes AI automates tasks within existing structures. That 0.5% is the floor for doing nothing differently, not the ceiling for what's possible.

— [[entity-harang-ju|Harang Ju]]