We don’t have to worry about AI taking our jobs because the billionaires behind it say that AI will lead to abundance, with no-one having to work and everyone having all that they need.
Really?
For more than a century, the wealthy have insisted that communism, a system that’s meant to give everyone all that they need, is evil because it rewards people who don’t put in the work. And now they want to build a world where everyone gets all they need without working for it.
Doesn’t something smell fishy to you?
Of course, the paradise they describe is a fairy tale meant to stop us worrying about what will really happen.
And what will really happen? That’s not as easy to answer as what won’t happen.
We know the wealthy aren’t going to share the abundance with everyone as after the best part of 10,000 years of mass human societies, there’s no evidence to suggest that’s ever happened even once.
And we know the opportunity for people to raise themselves up through hard work will disappear because many jobs will disappear.
Though some jobs will remain available. AI will probably struggle for a long time to offer a personal touch like a real person. So sex workers will still have opportunities. In fact, throughout human history, some sex workers have managed to elevate themselves to positions of great power. And the Fool has been favored by leaders of multiple societies for their ability to lighten the darkest moments, so some comedians will be okay. And fighters will prosper because nothing thrills the elite as much as watching two men trying to kill each other. Except, perhaps, two scantily clad women trying to kill each other. And religious leaders who know how to bend their gods to the needs of their leaders always do well too.
For the rest of us, there’s comfort knowing that humans are much more energy efficient than AI and we’ll always be cheaper for many intellectual and physical jobs. Perhaps there will be places like the workhouses of Victorian England where long working days will be rewarded with basic food and a bunkhouse bed.
However, the destitute majority will be separated from the wealthy minority. Looking back, we’ll marvel at early 2026, when the wealthiest 10% of Americans hoarded 68.3% of all US wealth, leaving the poorest 50% with 2.5%, as a golden age of relative social equality. Just how unequal US society becomes will depend on the wealthy’s ability to assert control.
If they can create AI fighting machines, they could leave the majority completely to their own devices with no form of social welfare whatsoever. Robot fighters will feel no discomfort in following orders to kill anyone who threatens the wealthy. Until they can build such a robot army, they’ll need to rely on humans to police the majority, who ultimately aren’t as trustworthy when it comes to indiscriminate killing.
Still, the good news is that until there’s a robot army, the majority will probably receive some form of social support to minimize the chances of them rising in revolt.
Erm, considering how positive the wealthy want us to feel about AI, that all sounds a bit bleak, doesn’t it?
Well, at least there’s an abundance of pessimism, isn’t there?
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