First, a brief explanatory video about what will really happen relative to the concept of Universal Basic Income as a remedy for AI created job losses.
Now, lest anyone think that I am simply fabricating this whole idea, I offer the following small sample...
Wall Street Journal: Tech Billionaires and Universal Basic Income
Fast Company: Why Silicon Valley Loves Universal Basic Income
...and I could go on.
Here's the catch though: This will never happen. There will never be Universal Basic Income enacted in the United States. Not now, not tomorrow, not 10 years from now. Never. Can anyone imagine any moderate or conservative politician in the United States, regardless of party affiliation, voting to support this?
I can't either.
So, why are these discussions being held if the outcome is more or less pre-ordained?
See the video, above.
Lucy represents big tech/business.
The football is Universal Basic Income.
Workers are Charlie Brown.
The underlying idea here is to propose Universal Basic Income as a means to get the average worker in the United States to not fear AI-created job losses. Kind of a "Don't worry about losing your job to AI...we've got something in mind to help you out. Now just keep working hard!". Except for the fact that these same tech/business leaders know very well that Universal Basic Income is a non-starter. The idea here is NOT to provide a solution for such job losses; rather the idea is to talk about something that will make people less concerned while AI actually does replace humans. A small distraction is all that is needed here, as AI related job losses are not all going to happen at once; rather this will be something that evolves over the next few years.
As long as Lucy (big tech/business) holds out the football (Universal Basic Income), tech/business leaders hope that Charlie Brown (people doing work) will just keep running forward at breakneck speed.
Now could someone say, "Gee Steve, wasn't there fearmongering about job losses when the Internet became a thing"? Sure, and that's fair commentary. You can also look at household income in the United States over the Internet-era vs. GDP and see that it has not risen near as much as profits and productivity have during that same period. This does point to a negative outcome, although the Internet is just one of many factors at play during this period.
To understand how AI will be different, well, you have to somewhat understand AI, which is beyond the scope of this posting. What I will say is this: The ascension of AI will be more like the Industrial Revolution and than the advent of the Internet.
Could I be wrong about all of the above? Sure.
But I'm not.
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