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It’s hard to go a day without hearing about the transformative power of artificial intelligence. (The Economist devoted
a cover package
to it this week.) You might expect it to be driving America’s latest productivity boom. Not quite. Most of the credit belongs to other factors, including earlier technology and cheap energy. But
don’t expect the miracle to end—AI will show up in productivity statistics sooner or later.
Living in the AI age, it may be tempting to scoff at the supposed ineptitude of early humans. That would be a mistake. For something different this weekend, I encourage you to
read about the surprising sophistication of Neanderthals.
Evidence from a 59,000-year-old tooth suggests that dentistry may have older origins than you might suppose. | 
