The rise of artificial intelligence and robotics forces us to face something that we have all felt to come: millions of jobs will soon disappear. Factory floors to legal offices, from truck driving to financial analysis, AI learns to do our job faster, cheaper and often better. This is not a future problem – it happens now. The real question is what we are going to do on this subject, because the old idea of linking survival to a pay check will break.
Many public figures offer great ideas. My own favorite solution is universal basic income (UBI)that I have promoted for more than a decade. It is there that everyone receives a guaranteed monthly cash payment from the government, no attached channel, enough to cover the bases. UC Berkeley Professor of emeritus funding, Mark Garman suggested universal basic capital, giving all the active ingredients and dividends of income from a superfund. The founder of Xprize Peter Diamandis on X recently promoted universal basic property, where we all have participation in companies that stimulate the AI revolution. The CEO of Openai, Sam Altman, speaks of extremely extreme wealth, where AI productivity is so massive that everyone lives in abundance and luxury.
All this has merit, and I love them all. But putting real money in the pockets of people via UBI is always the most practical and immediate means of maintaining stable society because AI takes more economics.
Ubi is simple. Everyone receives a monthly check – no hoops or bureaucracy. If you wish, I will also support crypto payments and using the blockchain. Anyway, if the machines do most of the work and generate wealth, we have to cut people directly to the money earned. And in this way, nobody falls through the meshes of the net because they have not completed the right form or satisfied with arbitrary requirements, as often occurs in the social protection system. In the end, it is not only about survival – it is freedom. With basic financial security, people could spend more time creating, learning, taking care of loved ones or simply living without constant milling.
UBI criticisms increase costs, inflation or the fear that people stop working. But real tests – from the Alaska oil dividend to pilot programs around the world – tell a different story. People do not suddenly become lazy. Most continue to work, start businesses or invest in skills. What changes is that they are less stressed, healthier and more willing to take productive risks.
Alternatives to UBI
The universal basic capital of Mark Garman has a call. Giving people participate in a superfund derived from the assets of companies dependent on automation could create a long -term wealth and make each one a participant in the market gains. It is a way of repairing the imbalance between those who experience capital gains and those who live wages. But the markets crash. Dividends dry. And the implementation of accounts, the teaching of financial literacy and the management of assets adds the complexity that UBI avoids.
The promotion by Peter Diamandis of the universal basic property is also attractive: all directly have companies focused on AI and the automated industries of the future. This aligns public interests on technological progress and could transform the whole country into shareholders. But convincing existing companies to give important equity is a steep ascent. And even if they have done so, the property issues do not reliably pay the rent without selling them.
Sam Altman’s extreme universal wealth is the most daring vision – such an abundant future that everyone lives like today’s multimillionaires. The AI involves the cost of goods and services near zero, and money becomes less important because everything is almost free. It’s inspiring, but far. We cannot bet the next 10 or 20 years on a perfect utopia appearing exactly when we need it – although I support the long -term idea.
Spread wealth
All these ideas share the same moral nucleus: if AI wants to create an unimaginable wealth, it cannot simply accumulate in a few corporate bank accounts. He must propagate widely or society fractures when unexpected collects forks and revolt. But Ubi is the one who can work now, to keep people without worrying.
First of all, it is liquidity. People who lose their jobs in automation do not need a share portfolio – they need money for grocery store and rent this month. Second, it’s simple. You can send money to people today without building new systems from scratch. Third, he respects the individual choice. People can decide to repay their debt, take a course, help their family or start a jostling.
The beauty of the UBI is that it does not prevent us from trying other models later. We can start with cash safety, then superposition in investment capital, shared property, crypto projects or new distribution systems. It is the safety net that makes everything else possible.
I am not against a future of universal property or extreme wealth. I would love to see it. But while we are waiting for this future – and hope it works as we think – UBI can make sure no one is left behind. He can keep the economy stable and buy time to build what comes next.
It is not a question of “free money” in the pejorative sense. It is a question of recognizing that in a world where machines can produce almost everything, our sense of human value must be separated from having a job. Direct money is the quickest, cleaner and most fair way to make sure that the benefits of AI reach everyone, not just the handful of people who have machines.
If we get things correctly – if we operate the AI revolution for all of us – then perhaps the abundance of which Sam Altman is talking about will not only be a dream. It could be the next natural step.
