In a discussion featured in the final edition of “The State of AI” series—a collaboration between the Financial Times and MIT Technology Review—senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and FT global tech correspondent Tim Bradshaw explore how artificial intelligence will reshape the world by 2030. They delve into the anticipated economic and societal transformations driven by rapid AI adoption. According to a report from Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute cited in the series, AI is the fastest-spreading technology in human history, with over 1.2 billion users in less than three years—outpacing the adoption rates of the internet, PCs, and smartphones. This rapid diffusion is expected to fuel significant economic growth, with estimates suggesting AI could add more than $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030, surpassing the outputs of major economies like China. However, the discussion also highlights the uneven global landscape of AI progress, as vast regions still lack reliable electricity and internet access, essential infrastructures for AI’s benefits to be realized worldwide. Heaven and Bradshaw also consider AI’s evolving role beyond productivity gains, touching on broader impacts such as shifts in global power dynamics, innovation acceleration, and ethical challenges surrounding AI governance. This conversation provides a nuanced vision of AI’s capability to transform economies and societies by the end of the decade, emphasizing both opportunity and the complexity of widespread integration into everyday life and global markets.