This Sci-Fi Show’s Post-Work Society is TOO REAL by Marcus Werner
Coming across this video on YouTube I thought it was just going to be an exploration of how people live in the world of the sci-fi show The Expanse.
But it is actually a thought experiment on how we, here on Earth, might navigate a future where AI takes over much of the work we do.
It’s a scary thought experiment, and for some, a certain near-future reality.
Humans have gone through many periods of time where it seemed that our ways of life were no longer tenable. The most recent one is the Computer Age, but we are still sorting that out, and that is partly the purpose of this thought experiment. Historically, the last one was the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th-century. Machines and mechanisms were taking over manual labor jobs. A new tractor turned the fields before sowing the seeds, instead of a horse drawn plow or entire families or communities turning and loosening the soil manually with picks and shovels and rakes. Not only were people displaced from their work or ability to trade labor for food — even the horses became obsolete.
There are many things that happen in day to day life that can be dealt with as they happen. Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, fires, tornadoes, or hurricanes. These are life changing events that happen without warning – for the most part – and while it would be great if we could prevent the damage they cause, almost every time, they aren’t.
Artificial Intelligence is something quite different. It’s here and it’s a Genie that can’t be put back in its bottle, so we have to deal with it as it appears and be very careful of what we wish for when it’s listening.
AI is still fairly new, in its baby stage, so to say. Although these things do move exponentially. We still have time to prepare for a smoother transition through the AI Revolution if we get real about it now.
How Should We Prepare?
No fear: That is probably the first thing we should remember when preparing our world for the sharing it with AI – whether the AI is a simple Chatbot, a computerized machine, or a humanoid robot. We should not be afraid of it, what it can do, or who controls it. Until AI gains consciousness, it is only a sum of human knowledge. It can only be as smart as the smartest person in the world because it gathers its information from us, or whatever we input into it.
And, don’t forget Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, which he introduced in the 1940s in his short story Runaround, which became part of the I, Robot series. The full set of laws is:
First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Later, Asimov introduced a Zeroth Law that superseded the others: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
We should prepare for AI taking over our jobs: It is going to happen. We just have to look at it this way. This is a multi-step process because it is both an individual and a collective project. We have to ask ourselves the big questions. And we have to ask our governments the big questions. This is not something that can wait to grow into a fire we can’t put out.
Universal Basic Income: Unconditional UBI can solve a lot of societal problems, only one of them being the AI Revolution. Think about it as a social safety net similar to Social Security, except that it starts at 18-years old for individuals. Companies who use AI to make their product, whether that product is cars or software, or farming or assisting with self-checkout at the grocery store, would pay into the Social Security fund. From this fund, everyone 18-years or older would receive a monthly payment, or stipend, that would cover the basics – rent, food, utilities. This could be done on State or Federal or even a global level.
Alaska already has a similar, smaller program in place (and has for years) which also recognizes that the resources of the state belong to the people of the state. It is called the Permanent Fund Dividend.
A number of countries have experimented in recent years with UBI or a Partial-UBI. The country of Iran is the first that has had a UBI program in place since 2010. Mongolia experimented with it from 2006-2012. Other countries that have experimented with have been Finland, Kenya, the province of Ontario in Canada, and Spain.
Capitalism: Capitalists are hands down not in favor of UBI. But the point that the Capitalists often miss or never even consider is that people can still work while getting UBI. They place the argument that people are generally lazy and will just sit around all day watching tv or doing nothing. That just isn’t true. Could you imagine being given the time to chase your dreams? To care for your family? To be a teacher or mentor? You can still chase money if that is your passion. There are so many things that would still need to be done by humans, and for humans, that could not be done by AI. Instead of AI caring for your family while you work, AI can work while you care for your family and in an abstract sense, AI will pay you to do it.
What are your thoughts on this? Have you thought about how to solve this future problem? What passion would you follow or what work would you still want to do if we received UBI? Do you think we can make a smooth transition into the future? Let me know in the comments!
