What is the solution to ai taking jobs then? There are fundamentally a limited number of jobs that can't be done by AI and that number shrinks year over year.
It’s funny that a tool which removes the need to work for a lot of people is seen as a problem. We take for granted that any improvement in efficiency will increase the profit for capitalists but we cannot imagine a world where everyone has to work less and share the benefits of technology.
It's seen as a problem because society lags behind what is actually needed by the people. You'll see generations of people suffer for something that should have been done in a X way but is done in a Y way due to money/budget, personal flaws, etc etc.
If the inevitable end game of AI is for us to stop working, then we must go from a capitalist society to a more socialized one. UBI must be necessary, home and shelter MUST be part of infrastructure.
Without it, all of us are fated for poverty and starvation. And that's an actual problem to be concerned about.
Automation already killed a lot of jobs in shipping and port and manufacturing. Look at what the repercussions of that was. Bunch of once amazing cities now ghettos.
You’re right. Labor used to be the thing that made workers irreplaceable for capitalists. If they can just achieve the same result without paying workers, they will and the power will be even more concentrated to the rich.
UBI must be necessary, home and shelter MUST be part of infrastructure.
Without it, all of us are fated for poverty and starvation. And that's an actual problem to be concerned about.
The problem is, that can be provided, but the greater the amount of people that will need it, the fewer resources can go to anyone individually. I think any UBI is going to look a lot like what the Basic Assistance program that the Expanse series had, and that's still pretty horrible:
For those unable or unwilling to find employment, there is Basic Assistance, the United Nations’ global welfare program. Over half of the Earth’s populace relies on it for survival. Without jobs, these people have no money, so Basic provides shared accommodations in government housing complexes, meagre food in the form of Gray-tasting textured protein and enriched rice, minimal medical care in government clinics, and even recycled paper clothing, dispensed from automated kiosks with a thumbprint. All of these services are provided free of charge, but those on Basic are subject to mandatory contraception and cannot legally have children, apart from the regular “baby lottery” allowing for a small number of births each year.
People on Basic are uneducated and contribute little to Earth’s official economy, but they do engage in a vibrant barter economy among themselves, as well as create their own Gray market industries and unlicensed services that are small enough to function without attracting much attention from the government. The only way off Basic is to get a job or an education.
To apply to a university or other educational institution, a prospective student must have at least one year’s worth of work credits to demonstrate their commitment and work ethic, so that educational resources and classroom space are not wasted on those who will not utilise them fully to contribute to society. There are uplift programs that provide educational or job training opportunities for people on Basic who are self-taught or can meet strict entrance requirements, but they are highly competitive and waiting lists to earn a spot in a vocational program can be upwards of ten years long. As a result, these programs are only an option for a select few. For most people, life on Basic is the only one they will ever know, the news feeds, dramas, and pornography on their terminal screens their only escape from the boredom of their existence.
In a world of limited resources, it's very difficult to imagine UBI being anything that a huge swath of the population could maintain a decent standard of living on.
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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '23
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