Measuring the vast and complex U.S. economy is a challenging endeavor. In response, one firm is deploying artificial intelligence to tackle the task.
The Zeta Economic Index, launched on Monday, employs generative AI to analyze what its developers describe as “trillions of behavioral signals,” primarily centered on consumer activity. This index offers a comprehensive assessment by scoring economic growth on both a broad health level and a distinct stability measure.
The index evaluates online and offline activities across eight categories, aiming to provide an extensive overview that integrates standard economic data points, such as unemployment and retail sales, with high-frequency information relevant to the AI era.
“The algorithm examines traditional economic indicators alongside our proprietary algorithm, which incorporates the behavioral and transaction data of 240 million Americans—an unparalleled dataset,” said David Steinberg, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Zeta Global.
“Instead of relying on retrospective data like others, we aim to deliver a forward-looking 30-day snapshot of the economic trajectory,” he added.
The eight sectors analyzed by the index include automotive activity, dining and entertainment, financial services (such as credit line expansion), healthcare, retail sales, technology, and travel.
For the stability measure, the index evaluates consumers’ capacity to manage economic fluctuations.
Together, these metrics aim to offer a more expansive view than traditional measures like gross domestic product (GDP).
In June, both measures provided positive news, with the economic score at 66 and the stability index at 66.1, indicating an “active” and “stable” economic health, respectively.
“This method offers a more holistic approach to predicting the economy, combining existing economic indicators such as GDP and employment with additional layers of data,” Steinberg explained.
“We analyze actual spending, reading, and research behaviors,” he added. “This comprehensive information enables us to create more accurate forecasts.”
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