Faith Club

31.12.14 09:57
Uzrakstīju nelielu piedāvājumu par Universal Basic Income.

If we introduce UBI, then who will work shitty jobs?

Robots, of course.

Robotization is changing the economic situation, and self-driving car actually might be the tipping point. As self-driving-car robot improves, eventually (meaning - soon enough) all drivers will be out of job.

That's potentially a huge disaster, unless we are ready and provide UBI.

There are many many millions of boring and unrewarding jobs that no person should be forced to do, but robots will do gladly.

I have feeling this time we can pull this off (automatize every boring menial task), as now computer capabilities are ready and will be up to challenge. Even 5 years ago, I would doubt the computing capabilities, but now it's pretty clear - the hardware has arrived. (Also see the quote by Bill Gates[1], how much of technology driven automatization is really coming.)

And as more and more people are released from drudgery and awful work environments they only are in to pay the bills and provide roof over their heads, huge amounts of cognitive surplus will be created. And this surplus surely will drive more robotization, as people join the effort to automatize everything. (As Brian Eno puts it[2], we will be able to release the "intelligence wasted from poverty".)

As a software developer, I am not at risk of being out of job one day. But, as IT, we are responsible for software "eating the world", and UBI is the only way putting this back on right track. Software and robotization are out to destroy jobs, but with UBI, this will both release the world from poverty, and allow humanity to stop perpetually working shitty jobs, and focus on something that actually matters.

Think of a work that people hate doing, and only are in to provide roof over their heads, and food on table. Think - why couldn't it be automated, replaced by robot doing the work. Think - probably only reason it's not done, there is (currently) no incentive to invent such robot, because there's plenty of miserable people willing to step up as the alternative is your family living on street and going hungry.

The moment people have choice (per UBI), that's when robot becomes essential. But once robot is available, there's no need for that person to work anymore! It's win-win.

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1 http://www.reddit.com/r/BasicIncome/comments/26s1vf/bill_gates_says_robots_and_automation_will_take/
2 http://www.reddit.com/r/BasicIncome/comments/2qq464/brian_eno_about_ubi_so_much_intelligence_is/
Tags: piedāvājums