In his TEDxGreenville talk, Gary Shiffman explores the disconnect between Greenville’s impressive GDP growth and its lagging real wages, highlighting South Carolina’s rank near the bottom nationally. Analyzing over a century of economic plans, he reveals the city’s consistent prioritization of growth over wages. Shiffman warns that Greenville’s labor-driven economic path is outdated in an era of AI, where capital increasingly replaces labor. He urges local leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs to act now—by building innovation labs, launching startups, and recruiting AI firms. Greenville, he argues, is ideally positioned to lead the next generation of advanced manufacturing by focusing on building happy employees. I believe that small groups of creative and dedicated people change the world. I seek to work with and to empower others working to help make our communities freer and safer in a complex, coercive, and violent world. I have served in war and traveled the world, studied Economics human behavior, and worked at the pinnacles of power in government and in industry.I co-founded two AI companies when I saw an opportunity join behavioral science with AI innovations coming from computer science to empower those on the front lines of combatting coercion, fraud, and violence in the military, law enforcement, and in financial institutions.I love to teach, write, and engage with curious people. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx