💰🤖 UBI needs AGI to make sense

Mass technological unemployment remains the best case for a basic universal income

The case for universal basic income is in large part aesthetic. The minimalist simplicity and elegance of UBI constitute a big part of its appeal: a single solution addressing a multitude of societal complexities. By providing all citizens an unconditional stipend, UBI tackles poverty, inequality, and economic instability — especially from technological flux — in one swooping, graceful motion. Its streamlined structure bypasses bureaucratic bottlenecks and tangles, while its inherent adaptability allows individuals to create their own life paths. 

Just lovely. Public policy by way of Jony Ive. Imagine someone in Silicon Valley who worries about tech unemployment from human-level artificial general intelligence. Also imagine such a person stumbling upon UBI after a quick Google query and thinking, “Money for people. What an obvious solution. I must tell the world of this, especially those gloomy idiots in Washington.” 

But here’s the thing: America already has a rather extensive welfare state, and it’s deeply embedded in our society.