“AI will render almost all aspects of personal life much easier/smoother. However, advanced AI constitutes a direct threat to employment. True, past economic eras of technological advancement have not caused mass unemployment. AI is different because it competes with (perhaps outcompetes), the highest form of human capabilities: critical and creative thought. Social tensions might well increase despite and because of AI’s capabilities.
AI can be a huge aid in the reinvention of humans’ self-identities, but only if people understand the best ways to exploit it.
“There is a need for a massive restructuring of the 21st-century economic system, i.e., taxation moving from the individual to the corporation (e.g., taxing AI and robots), with far greater government subsidization of individuals (e.g., Universal Basic Income) becoming standard. Such a complete transition will not happen by 2040, but we will be on the way there.
“Another important restructuring will have to occur in education at all levels, aimed no longer almost exclusively at preparing people for professional work but rather mostly for a life of non-work or leisure. We must learn how to lead satisfying and productive lives without financial remuneration and the other benefits of work. AI can be a huge aid in the reinvention of humans’ self-identities, but only if people understand the best ways to exploit it.”
This essay was written in November 2023 in reply to the question: Considering likely changes due to the proliferation of AI in individuals’ lives and in social, economic and political systems, how will life have changed by 2040? This and more than 150 additional responses are included in the report “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence by 2040”