Economists aren’t sure if or when artificial intelligence will cause widespread job losses. But they do agree on one thing: The federal safety net isn’t ready for such a shock.
The nearly century-old unemployment system, which provides out-of-work Americans with up to 26 weeks of benefits in most states, is unlikely to cover many of the workers who are most at risk of being displaced by A.I., labor experts warn.
Wang was correct in 2016: we need a UBI, and we need to start it now. He was early in his predictions, but it is coming. The day most people will be rendered useless because machines and machine intelligence replaces them. Won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.
You mean… socialism? Hand-outs? Safety nets? Here? Right. Never going to happen.
If and when the majority are out of work it will definitely happen. Probably all it would take is a large and vocal minority, or mass chaos from the unemployed. I still don’t think it will happen for a while, fifteen to twenty years, but perhaps it only takes persistent 12% unemployment for chaos to reign, in which case it will be sooner.
Jk
Better if we get a head start and start phasing this in now. Rather than waiting until it’s critical, and then trying to do it.
Otherwise, we’re headed to the “scoops” from Soylent Green. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ehI9Fvbz7Y
I wholeheartedly agree, though those that serve the 1% will not be so easy to persuade. Unfortunately, I think there will be damaging disruption until those in power understand they have more to lose by not placating the masses. I think this country should be concerned with thr bottom third the most, as opposed to the top ten percent.
Jk
Sheez! What are you? Some sort of commie? That’s unAmerican!
If the Top 10% can retreat to their gated communities, and dedicate the excess AI data center capacity to mass surveillance of the other 90%, there’s no need for UBI.
intercst
If you’ll recall Soylent Green, they wealthy -as best I remember- lived in very clean areas with concrete moats and big fences. So, yeah, you’re predicting the same thing.
But I don’t think even that will protect the 1% from the other 99% once the 99% get desperate enough. They’ll overwhelm any police protection. Maybe even the military.
Police protection will likely be by Ukrainian drone swarms.
intercst
Will the 90% or 99% manufacture the drones or will we have robots that make the drones?
By the time you reach 95% unemployment, everything will be robot-manufactured.
The 5% who are still working will be volunteer labor who can’t think of anything else to occupy their time.
A friend of mine told me many years ago, we are either headed to a Star Trek future, or an Elysium future, and he was afraid of the direction we seemed to be going. I will also point out that in Star Trek lore, WW III started in 2026 and lasted a very long time.
Just needs a rebrand to something like Trump Checks and it will get approved. Ya know, like the socialistic Trump Accounts and the new Trump IRA.
It will require the disenfranchised electorate to become large enough and sentient enough to vote in a government that caters to them instead of the ultra wealthy. It is more likely we will have to live through a Brazil scenario prior to a significant change. The wealthy have been becoming more and more ring fenced away from the masses over the years. First it was redlining and white flight, then gated neighborhoods, now islands, some with defensible bridges. The segregation by wealth is becoming more obvious with each passing decade.
Jk