Profitability can be pointless. I used to work for a government contractor. We charged the government per hour, so there was tons of bullshit we had to do to get even the simplest thing done. Some steps were required by law - laws created with the help of our company. A lot of time was also wasted on extremely slow computers, pointless meetings, etc. I’d estimate that >50% of the the jobs there would not be needed if operations were run effectively.

Now think of every sector with strong ties to the government. Education, defense, banks, healthcare, etc. All have massive bureaucracies designed to create jobs and siphon money from the government

Not as popular as some others, but I think about this book a lot: AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future

I think it’s possible to get rid of rich people altogether. The reason capitalists earn a disproportionate amount of money is because they risk their time and/or money creating successful business ventures. But in theory, the entire process of entrepreneurship can be automated and de-risked. Once this happens, it should be possible to give people money up-front to develop desired products and services, under the condition that they cannot earn any additional profits/royalties. Their incentive would be increased income on top of UBI, as well as reputation points and a sense of purpose.

Such a system would still have a free market, where goods are priced according to supply/demand. It’s just that venture capitalists, investors, marketers, etc. are no longer needed

It is easier for most people to envision the end of civilization than the end of capitalism, unfortunately☹️ Personally I believe that we need to implement a new economic system before the Singularity starts if we want to maximize our chances of a utopian future, but this capitalist realism makes it difficult to even discuss that possibility