A Human Algorithm by Flynn Coleman

Author:Flynn Coleman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781640092372
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2019-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

The sooner we confront our situation and realize that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, the sooner we can get down to the difficult task of adapting, with mortal humanity, to our new reality . . . humanity can survive if we accept human limits and transience as fundamental truths, and work to nurture the variety and richness of our collective cultural heritage.

—ROY SCRANTON

REDRAWING THE SOCIETAL ROAD MAP

One big idea that holds promise for confronting economic inequality, and checks many of the vital boxes we need for the coming smart-machine era, is commonly referred to as a Universal Basic Income (UBI). This concept is already being tested in various forms in Denmark, Finland, Kenya, Canada, and even in a limited fashion in Stockton, California.78 The Indian state of Sikkim has plans to introduce India’s first and the world’s largest UBI experiment to date in 2022.79 In the Age of Automation, where we know many jobs will be lost to AI, the UBI uncouples income from work and will help to level the playing field for the disadvantaged. Increasing automation and decreasing employment create a need for as well as a pathway to a UBI that can provide opportunities in a more egalitarian way, freeing mental bandwidth from the stress of financial insecurity and sparking reserves of imagination and entrepreneurial spirit in the process.

With a UBI, we may have a way to eliminate the need for food stamps, welfare, and other existing social programs, virtually eradicating poverty while adding trillions of dollars to the GDP.80 Alex Goik points out that “the arguments in favor of UBI are manifold.” He shows how a UBI is not much different than the negative income tax scheme proposed by President Richard Nixon many years ago, and that it would reduce bureaucratic hurdles in our current flawed welfare systems. He also makes the argument that a UBI is eminently affordable when we calculate the “net costs.”81

Just as the AI revolution is poised to redefine the way we look at work and employment, so too must we be open to new ideas that rework archaic systems of compensation. As people are displaced from jobs and lose current forms of economic value, we need to reconfigure political power and who gets to have it. Manual labor and routine tasks have been gradually assumed by machines for years; now, as cognitive labor is poised to go to supersmart machines as well, we need to redefine our sense of meaning and purpose on a far grander scale.

In the United States, such an ambitious “entitlement” program could not succeed nationally in our current political environment. The hope is that future intelligent systems will be able to demonstrate its feasibility and viability and help us use the power of collective action to advance change, so that we will not have to suffer a catastrophic financial or humanitarian crisis to find the political will.

Economist and former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis has suggested a variation on the UBI called

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