This is so dumb. Show me an example of the economic model where this works and I’ll shake your hand. (Hint, no such model has ever been demonstrated or even proposed).

Under current economic system, displacing wage earning work does NOT end up paying the ex workers. Because why would the capital owners (who now own all production that labor used to own) why would they give away money for nothing? That’s crazy. (Look at the California wealth tax for examples of capital owners not wanting to give away their wealth for nothing)

But he’s the rub, the capital owners get eaten by this just as much as labor does. (Step 1 destroys labor, step 2 destroys capital) and it won’t be pretty.

I don’t have the answer, I just know that thinking about the problem for five minutes shows that the “answer” proposed in this piece is no answer at all.

The current debate about AI and unemployment asks whether things will end well if something cataclysmic changes — humanity loses its monopoly on intelligence and capital displaces labor — yet we change nothing about our worldview, our social contract, our public policies, or our conception of capitalism.