Yang clarifies his UBI stance, stating it was a campaign oversimplification. He views UBI as a foundational floor upon which new economies—centered on arts, wellness, and caregiving—must be built to provide structure, purpose, and fulfillment in a post-work world.
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The criticism that Universal Basic Income causes people to work less misses the point. This outcome should be seen as a success, demonstrating that people can find meaning outside of forced labor when given financial stability, challenging the privileged narrative that jobs are essential for purpose.
AI will inevitably cause mass, short-term job displacement. To prevent a depression from collapsed consumer spending, Universal Basic Income (UBI) is essential. It acts as a bridge, sustaining demand and allowing society to benefit from AI's productivity gains while new industries emerge.
Fears of mass unemployment from AI overlook a key economic principle: human desire is not fixed. As technology makes existing goods and services cheaper, humans invent new things to want. The Industrial Revolution didn't end work; it just created new kinds of jobs to satisfy new desires.
Demis Hassabis suggests Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an insufficient, 'add-on' solution for a post-AGI society. He posits that we will need entirely new economic models, potentially resembling direct democracy systems where communities vote on resource allocation, to manage post-scarcity abundance.
The focus on AI automating existing human labor misses the larger opportunity. The most significant value will come from creating entirely new types of companies that are fully autonomous and operate in ways we can't currently conceive, moving beyond simple replacement of today's jobs.
Rather than causing mass unemployment, AI's productivity gains will lead to shorter work weeks and more leisure time. This shift creates new economic opportunities and jobs in sectors that cater to this expanded free time, like live events and hospitality, thus rebalancing the labor market.
In a future where AI and robots create all wealth and concentrate it among a few owners, societal stability will be impossible. To prevent a violent revolution, a massive redistribution of wealth—akin to communism or UBI—will become a pragmatic necessity, even for those ideologically opposed to it.
While Universal Basic Income (UBI) might solve the economic fallout from AI-induced job loss, Ariel Poler is more concerned with the resulting existential crisis. For most people, jobs provide identity, structure, and meaning. The challenge isn't just funding people's lives, but finding productive ways for them to spend their free time.
Financial support (UBI) is insufficient for a thriving populace. The real safety net in an AI-driven world is a 'Universal Basic AI'—a personal, sovereign AI agent that acts in the user's best interest. This provides capability and access to resources, ensuring individuals are empowered, not just subsidized.
Since taxing profitless AI companies is impossible, a new system is needed. Instead of redistribution, money creation itself must be re-engineered. Capital could be generated and injected directly to individuals for simply existing and participating in the economy, fundamentally changing how money enters circulation.