Submitted by theshadowturtle t3_zykyic in singularity
Clean_Livlng t1_j2c83ex wrote
Reply to comment by AncientGreekHistory in How are we feeling about a possible UBI? by theshadowturtle
Who will buy your products if jobs are mostly eliminated by automation?
AncientGreekHistory t1_j2cdkuk wrote
I'm a contractor, in a business that isn't going away anytime soon, and that AI is particularly bad at. We're very good at what we do, and have been using the rudimentary AI already on the market for a couple years already (limited in usefulness, but staying on top of it).
I'm not worried for me in the next 10-15 years. Nobody honest can predict past that.
I am, however, very worried for the world. Nobody has come up with a good answer to the question behind the question you just asked, and the disruption will almost certainly lead to war (China/Taiwan & India/Pakistan being the biggest worries in the medium term).
The question behind the question is the fact that you can't even just somehow tax the machines, and then pass those taxes on to people, because that automation will drive costs and prices down, while at the same time less spending money from less income earners will also push prices down, and it'll be easier to offshore... so there will be significantly less economic activity overall to tax, and a smaller tax base, all while the spending to keep the social safety net working skyrockets.
There's no way to make that math work.
The closest thing I've seen that approaches 'an answer' is some sort of system that doesn't involve money at all, where the needs themselves (food, shelter, healthcare, clothing, transportation, etc) are just... met. We've no idea where things will settle after it all blows up, but maybe enough tax revenue will be there to pay for those needs just being met, then some extra for spending cash (UBI).
Both major parties in the US and UK seem (the only nations I watch close enough to comment) hell bent to make this situation much worse. I think an economic collapse is essentially inevitable. It'll just be less horrible in some other places in the world.
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