Here's a Jan 25th 2025 quote on X/Twitter (which his firm helped Musk buy) from Marc Anderessen, head of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz/a16z.
"A world in which human wages crash from AI -- logically, necessarily -- is a world in which productivity growth goes through the roof, and prices for goods and services crash to near zero. Consumer cornucopia. Everything you need and want for pennies."
This is the world Big Tech is building for us. Given their hold over the current US administration, barring a political revolution - there's not much to stop them for the next 4 years.
If their power to create that world via AI & robotics is seemingly unstoppable, what about a counter-intuitive idea? Engage them on it seriously. At the very least the transition to this world might need the kind of emergency economic supports the Covid era had.
It seems strange Big Tech is so open about what it intends to do, yet we are still not taking it seriously, despite them saying it all out loud.
That is objectively awesome. Also an argument for making energy/EVs/Steel cheaper with removal of tariffs from China, and utility monopoly regulatory power to make home solar expensive.
Where the problem comes up, is political power to make CIA champions get all of the profits from that world, and CIA champions quid pro quo support for US militarism, including limiting AI's ability to criticize how awesome US militarism, or oligarchy concentration, is for you.
Tax funded UBI not only makes the awesome abundance affordable for people, taxing those who are enriched by productivity gains, encouraging more abundance than the genocidal extermination of the poors, UBI is also the only path to disempowering US empire from ensuring its CIA champions oppress Americans and world through "nebulous national security" goals that always involve gifting all the money to oligarchs.
Yeah. That is, if it were true.
In reality, the difference gained from productivity gains and/or wages saved will just be pocketed by shareholders/company owners, with prices remaining largely the same. Just like it’s been done for the past 100+ years, y’know?
I mention that in 2nd paragraph, along with only solution in last paragraph.
Not only will those companies elect a rulership that supports their wealth concentration, the AI itself will be programmed to validate anti-human behaviour and militarism to oppress both citizens and rest of world to that wealth concentration.