Foremost in the minds of many is the fear that advanced technology in general will result in the widespread loss of both manual labor intensive jobs as well jobs associated with office work, and eventually even writing, acting and other creative work.
As of the early 2020’s this fear has already come to fruition for millions of blue collar workers and is increasingly threatening white collar work as well. In a society where, for average people, the only way to gain access to the basic resources necessary for a decent life is by being a well-compensated employee, jobs being replaced with advanced technology is truly a threat. It need not be however.
As technology replaces workers with components and systems which are cheaper, faster, more accurate, safer, more flexible, and far easier to control, productivity gains are massive. This gain in productivity translates into unprecedented profits. In our present socio-economic system however only a relative few — owners of entities that produce goods and deliver services, enjoy these profits. If the immense profits which automation and the deployment of general artificial intelligence were distributed as a universal basic income at a level sufficient to afford necessities including food, housing, mental and physical healthcare, education, childcare, clothing, and transportation as well as a general stipend for enriching experiences such as travel, having one’s job replaced by advanced technology would not have to be something to fear.
The general population having the financial means to purchase these basic necessities is essential for a healthy and stable economy. Presently, a majority of people are economically forced into working at their jobs. 73% of young people say they live paycheck to paycheck and a third of Americans do not have sufficient savings to cover three months of expenses.
If we do not restructure our society so that the gains of advanced technology are widely shared, the result will be to concentrate unprecedented wealth, and consequently power, in the hands of just a few. In his recent book The Coming Wave, British entrepreneurial AI researcher Mustafa Suleyman worries about what will happen if we continue to allow the surplus value that advanced technology creates to be captured by capitol and not by labor. In the short term he recommends extensive job retraining, but ultimately that we move to full universal basic income over the next 20 years.
Implementing this agenda would transform our human experience. Instead of the ascent of advanced technology representing discarding, disenfranchising, and marginalizing workers and their dependents, we can take a crucial step forward in human development. Characteristics such as being creative, intensely social, boundlessly curious, energetic, enthusiastic, and playful, common in healthy children will become far more common in adults.
The belief that there is something inherently healthy and uplifting in work, any work, is deeply held in modern western culture and especially in the United States. In reality though, many jobs are dreadful — arduous and bone crushing, or boring, and demeaning. If we can delegate the jobs that people despise to advanced technology, the jobs that remain might truly be uplifting and healthy.