The last time the American economy was posting surprising economic growth numbers amid rapid wage gains and moderating inflation, Ace of Base and All-4-One topped the Billboard charts and denim overalls were in vogue.

Thirty years ago, officials at the Federal Reserve were hotly debating whether the economy could continue to chug along so vigorously without spurring a pickup in inflation. And back in 1994, it turned out that it could, thanks to one key ingredient: productivity.

“There’s a lot more to come as more people adopt these things,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist at Stanford who is optimistic that we may be on the cusp of a productivity takeoff as white collar-workers have their day-to-day abilities augmented by the new tools. He has been running experiments and finding that A.I. does help workers, and has co-founded a company that coaches firms on how to best employ the technology.